Spotsylvania man held in June incident in city

A Spotsylvania man has been charged in connection with a June 9 incident in Fredericksburg during which shots were fired and two people were stabbed.

According to city police, officers responded to a large fight that broke out at the Grapevine Cafe early that morning. Most of the brawlers were gone when police arrived, but police stopped a car with four people in it. One of them had been stabbed three times.

A second stabbing victim was inside the bar. He told police that someone hit him in the head with a beer bottle, then slashed his back with the broken bottle, but he didn’t know who had done it.

Several gunshots were heard outside after bouncers closed the bar and sent people outside. It was never clear what caused the brawl or who was involved.

City police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said detectives developed information linking a Spotsylvania man to the shooting. Lance Durante II, 23, is charged with reckless handling of a firearm and discharging a firearm in connection with the Grapevine incident.

Bledsoe said the misdemeanor warrants against Durante were obtained in June but weren’t served until Saturday, when Cpl. Matt Deschenes saw him driving on Fall Hill Avenue. Deschenes, who knew Durante was wanted, followed the Infiniti to Wicklow Drive and arrested Durante without incident after he got out.

There was a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car, so police got a search warrant to search it. They recovered several small baggies of marijuana and found a pistol under the hood.

Durante was additionally charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, carrying a concealed weapon and altering the serial number on a firearm.

He was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

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