Alaska News

Bethel man in jail on charges of stabbing another man

BETHEL -- A Bethel resident is in jail on assault charges after a stabbing early Saturday, Bethel police reported Monday.

Resty Balantac Jr., 22, was arrested on charges of first- and fourth-degree assault, police said.

Police were called at 3:13 a.m. Saturday regarding a stabbing in the Western Alaska hub. Medics and police found a man on the ground bleeding from his abdomen.

Police have not publicly named the victim, a Bethel 23-year-old. He was taken first to Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp.'s hospital in Bethel, then flown to Anchorage. The man is in critical condition at Alaska Native Medical Center, according to Bethel police.

Balantac is originally from Hawaii but has been living in Bethel, police said.

Investigators don't believe there was a relationship between the two men. They are still looking into what prompted the assault, Lt. Joe Corbett said. It appears that alcohol was involved, he said. Police ask anyone with information about the incident to call 907-543-3781 and ask to speak with Sgt. Amy Davis.

Lisa Demer

Lisa Demer was a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Dispatch News. Among her many assignments, she spent three years based in Bethel as the newspaper's western Alaska correspondent. She left the ADN in 2018.

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