An exotic dancer has been accused of stabbing a DJ, leaving him with a punctured lung, in a brutal attack at a strip club.
DJ Duncan Allen, 38, said he was working at Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club in Portland in the early hours of December 8 when he was suddenly attacked from behind by Peyton Colby Lathan, 29.
“It felt like a 500-pound man punched me in the back as hard as humanly possible,” he told Live5News.
“So I turned around expecting there to be a huge dude about to fight me and it was her [a dancer] and she was standing there holding a knife.”
Graphic surveillance footage captured Lathan allegedly stabbing Allen four times in the back, according to court documents.
Allen suffered injuries to his hand, back, side, and armpit, as well as punctured lung, he said.
“It wasn’t until I went to take a breath and felt my back that I realized she had stabbed me. By that time she was out the door walking down the street like nothing happened,” he said.
Allen said his mind instantly went to his pet dog Stone while his coworkers applied pressure to his wounds until emergency services arrived.
Police then found the 29-year-old suspect hiding in the bushes outside the club with two small knives beside her, including one with a bloodied edge, reported KGW8.
She was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, attempted assault in the first-degree, and the unlawful use of a weapon, according to Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office booking records.
Following her arrest, Lathan pleaded insanity, according to court documents, seen by KKTV. She is now being held without bail ahead of her arraignment Tuesday.
The motive for the attack is currently unclear but Allen has insisted it was unprovoked.
He said in a Facebook post that he had worked alongside Lathan – who had worked at the club for a decade – “with no issues at all.”
Club owner Johnny Diablo Žūklė told KKTV:“She was always a little off, but she never exhibited signs of violent tendencies.
“She definitely had a mental health crisis. I think she had intended to kill someone, and it just happened to be Duncan, and when I think about it, when she was in the dressing room for about 10 minutes, she seemed like she was possessed by a demon.”
Allen told The Independent he was discharged from hospital Monday and is now recovering at home.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help with his medical costs.
The Independent contacted Portland Police for further information.
