MARIETTA - A Harmar Street resident has admitted to Marietta police that he stabbed himself, then blamed it on another man in an incident investigators say was apparently the result of a domestic dispute.
Police responded to a report of a stabbing at 122 Harmar St. around 4:30 p.m. Monday and found a resident at that address, 43-year-old Ronald Dean Welch Jr., with three stab wounds to his abdomen, according to police Sgt. Len Ritchie.
"He said another individual came into the house and stabbed him," Ritchie said, adding that Welch was transported to Marietta Memorial Hospital where he was treated and released.
Ritchie said a polygraph test was administered to Welch's alleged assailant Tuesday. His name was not released.
"But the test showed he was truthful," Ritchie said. "After some investigation we went back to the residence and interviewed (Welch)."
Welch allegedly admitted to officers that he had stabbed himself, then tried to get the other man arrested.
Ritchie said the stab wounds were not deep and not life-threatening.
"He was charged with falsifying a police report, a first-degree misdemeanor," Ritchie said.
Marietta police Capt. Jeff Waite said the investigation is continuing but the incident was likely related to a domestic dispute.
Welch was released on a personal recognizance bond and is scheduled for a hearing in Marietta Municipal Court Monday morning.
