Motorcyclist uses two knives to attack man on Treasure Island, police say

Treasure Island police have arrested a St. Petersburg man they say assaulted a man with two knives, causing cuts to his neck and shoulder, according to an arrest report.

The incident occurred after 2 a.m. Sunday on an access road off 107th Avenue, police said.

Police said Richard James Pocevich, 46, and another man got into an argument. Police did not say what the argument was about, but said they believed the two men did not know each other prior to the incident.

Pocevich, who was on a motorcycle, got off his bike and “pulled a knife from his right pocket and flicked open the knife,” arrest reports state. He then “pulled another knife from his left pocket with his left hand and flicked open the knife," reports state.

Police said he lunged at the other man with both knives and cut him. Pocevich then left on his motorcycle, police said.

Police said the victim required medical attention and needed stitches, but didn’t release more detailed information about the man’s injuries.

Pocevich was arrested Tuesday on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm. Officers said that in an interview, Pocevich told them he did not advance on the other man. Instead, he said, the other man “walked into the knife pressing it hard into his own neck causing it to bleed,” reports state.

Bail was set at $10,000 and Pocevich was released from the Pinellas County jail Thursday. He has been appointed an assistant public defender, who has entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.