An Egg Harbor Township man allegedly stabbed the father of his girlfriend's son in Somers Point and then turned himself into police with the knife.
Todd Kaelble, 43, was released from jail Monday, following a detention hearing.
He is accused of stabbing the man while the victim sat behind the wheel of his truck on July 4.
The girlfriend, whose name was not released, told police she and the victim had taken their 10-year-old son to watch fireworks, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
When they returned home, Kaelble walked up to the truck and started arguing with her ex, the woman told police.
She tried to break up the fight, when the victim told her to call 911 because he was bleeding from the chest, she told police, the affidavit states.
Kaelble fled north on Cooper Drive, she said.
He later showed up at the Somers Point Police Department, where he placed the pocketknife used in the attack on a counter and then waited to talk to police, defense attorney John Tumelty said.
Kaelble said that he had called to talk to his girlfriend when her son's father answered instead and started yelling at him.
When the girlfriend and victim returned home, Kaelble said he argued with the man, who then punched him.
"The police report indicates that Todd showed the officer he had a lump on the right side of his forehead," Tumelty told the judge, as Kaelble pointed to his head from the jail booth from where he appeared for the virtual hearing.
"The next thing he knew, the victim was bleeding from the chest," the affidavit says Kaelble told police.
The man had a laceration to his abdomen and required surgery, according to the affidavit, which says the long-term effects of the injury are not known.
Tumelty said his client admits alcohol was involved.
The entire incident was witnessed by the victim's son and recorded by a neighbor's Ring camera.
Kaelble has no prior criminal history, and had the lowest possible score on his public safety assessment, which is used to determine whether a defendant is held under bail reform.
Tumelty told the judge that his client could live with his wife, from whom he was separated, and their two teenage sons in Egg Harbor Township if released. He also said he would get any required alcohol treatment.
The judge granted release at the highest level of oversight, and ordered Kaelble to attend Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings weekly.
