A man wanted over a double-stabbing and a suspicious house fire in Melbourne has been arrested.
Damen Stephens, 43, was arrested in Cheltenham on Monday morning, ending police’s 24-hour manhunt.
He was wanted over a violent incident with a ‘large knife’ that occurred in St Kilda on Saturday night that put two men in hospital.
Mr Stephens was also a person of interest over a fire at his mother’s house in Bentleigh, south-east of the CBD. The elderly woman is still in hospital after neighbours allege he tried to strangle her.
In May he posted to his Facebook account that he had been behind bars for eight months because of a ‘slight cyber-stalking incident/misunderstanding/love-story’ and was out on bail ‘looking for new Friends/Victims’.
Damen Stephens (pictured) was arrested in Cheltenham on Monday morning, ending police’s 24-hour manhunt
He was wanted over a violent incident with a ‘large knife’ that occurred in St Kilda on Saturday night that put two men in hospital
A woman helped police locate Mr Stephens after seeing him outside a Cheltenham petrol station after 9:30am on Monday morning.
She told the Herald Sun she recognised the man from the media reports and immediately phoned police.
‘To me, he just looked a bit dodgy, he kept looking around and was a bit cagey, which is kind of what caught my eye,’ she said.
He was wanted over a violent incident with a large knife that occurred in St Kilda on Saturday night that put two men in hospital
Mr Stephens was a person of interest after a double-stabbing occurred on Fitzroy Street after 9pm which left two men in hospital
Mr Stephens was a person of interest after a double-stabbing occurred on Fitzroy Street after 9pm which left two men in hospital.
The men, a 44-year-old and 29-year-old, suffered non-life threatening stab wounds and are recovering.
Police do not believe they know Mr Stephens but had been at the same restaurant the arrested man prior to the incident.
‘The stabbing victims were dining at a premises in St Kilda and it was a random attack,’ police said.
‘At this stage, I am unaware what prompted it. It appears from early investigations that it was quite random. They were in there dining and enjoying their meal and this attack happened quite randomly.’
Mr Stephens’ mother’s house also suspiciously burned down just after midday on Saturday
Fire services were called to the Bentleigh home at around 1pm and were unable to save the home as it was destroyed by the blaze
Mr Stephens’ mother’s house also suspiciously burned down just after midday on Saturday.
Fire services were called to the Bentleigh home at around 1pm and were unable to save the home as it was destroyed by the blaze.
Neighbours say Mr Stephens and his mother got in a heated argument on Friday evening before he returned to the home later that night and began smashing her windows.
‘We are all scared of him,’ an anonymous neighbour told The Age.
His mother is still in hospital and is helping police with their investigations.
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