By admin 
GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — Police say an argument escalated into a stabbing that left a man dead and another injured outside a corner market in Glendale over the weekend.
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Joseph Deltoro, 41, was taken into custody for the alleged crime.
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, Glendale police received reports about a stabbing at the Easy Stop Corner Market, near 60th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. The 911 caller said the victim was on the ground and bleeding heavily, according to police.
Emergency crews arrived and rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries. A second victim was also stabbed but survived, according to police.
Surveillance video obtained by police reportedly shows Deltoro walking up to the scene and talking with one of the victims. Deltoro briefly left, returned with a knife and stabbed two victims, according to investigators.
Witnesses reported seeing five men fighting outside the market. After the incident, three of the men, including Deltoro, reportedly ran away from the scene.
Glendale police ran the surveillance video through a facial recognition program, which identified Deltoro as the main suspect. Investigators also found that he had several previous run-ins with law enforcement around the corner market or neighboring areas.
Police spoke with the surviving victim in the hospital, who identified Deltoro as the suspect who stabbed him, court paperwork states. He said he had been standing with the victim in front of the store when Deltoro approached them.
The victim reportedly said something to Deltoro in Spanish, which “appeared to offend” Deltoro, according to court paperwork. Deltoro started arguing with the victims when two men who were with him began to surround them.
The argument escalated into a fight when one of the victims pushed Deltoro. During the fight, one of the victims threw a drink and began to run away from the scene when he felt someone stab him in the back. The victim continued running home before realizing he had been stabbed, police said.
The next day, authorities tracked Deltoro to an apartment complex near 91st Avenue and Glendale Avenue, where he was taken into custody. One of the men who was with Deltoro the night of the stabbing was also located and arrested by police.
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The witness told police that he got a phone call from Deltoro, who said that “people were trying to fight him,” court documents state. The witness left his apartment with the third man to meet up with Deltoro. As the two got to the scene, one of the men told Deltoro that “he should just leave” after seeing that he was holding a knife, court paperwork says.
Deltoro refused to leave, leading to the fight between the five men. The witness told police he saw Deltoro “swinging the knife” at both victims, but did not see that anyone else had weapons.
In an interview with police, Deltoro admitted he got into an argument with the victims over a beer and cigarettes “that were taken from him,” investigators said. Deltoro said he decided to leave and call someone up, claiming that the victims were “trying to beat him up.”
Deltoro said he returned once the two men arrived to confront the victims. Court documents state Deltoro told police that one of the victims splashed alcohol in his face and pushed him, and in response, Deltoro stabbed him in the back “because he was angry.”
Investigators noted that surveillance video allegedly shows Deltoro stabbing a victim as he was running away and stabbing the other in the chest. The deceased victim was “not in a fighting stance” when the stabbing occurred, court documents describe.
Deltoro claimed the stabbing was in self-defense, but police say there was no indication that the two victims were trying to fight him.
He was booked on one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault. It’s unclear if the two men who were with Deltoro will also face charges.
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