A Calhoun, Ga., man is hospitalized after being stabbed by his friend over a weekend argument about who makes better vehicles, Ford or Chevrolet, authorities said.
A Gordon County Sheriff's Office deputy said it's an argument he's never seen turn violent in this area.
"I've seen it in the news before in other places," Chief Deputy Robert Paris said. "But I haven't seen it around here."
Zachary Woody, 21, was charged with aggravated assault after Zachary Jorden, 22, showed up at Gordon Hospital with a stab wound to the left side of his chest about 1:35 a.m. Saturday, an incident report shows.
But Jorden's mother, Nena Chamlee, said the source of the argument wasn't important.
"What happened, happened," she said Monday. "That's not the point."
Chamlee said her son is trying to recover at the hospital in intensive care.
"We're not doing good at all," she said.
Jorden has been friends with Woody since he was 14 years old, she said.
The fight early Saturday morning began when Woody and Jorden were "mudding" - running four-wheel-drive vehicles through mudholes - and drinking alcohol with several other friends in a field behind Georgia Northwestern Technical College's Gordon County campus in Calhoun, an incident report shows.
Woody and Jorden began to argue about what brand of vehicle was better, a police incident report shows. The two got into a shoving match, then started punching wildly at each other, the report showed.
But Woody cut the fight short when he pulled a pocketknife out of his shorts and lunged at Jorden, attempting to stab him twice, the report showed.
No one noticed the deep wound until Jorden lifted up his shirt, the report showed. Even Woody told police he didn't realize Jorden had been stabbed because, he said, he covered part of the blade with his thumb when he swung.
Afterward, Woody was arrested and taken to the Gordon County Jail.
Contact Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.