A workplace altercation between two construction workers escalated into a stabbing on Wednesday evening at a job site along Washington Fields Road in Washington City, Utah, according to local authorities.

Officers from the Washington City Police Department were dispatched around 6:15 p.m. following reports of a disorderly conduct incident. Upon arrival, they found one man suffering from a stab wound to the chest. The injured worker was transported to St. George Regional Hospital and is in stable condition.

Washington City Police Chief Jason Williams confirmed to St. George News that the stabbing occurred during a dispute between coworkers at the construction site.

“The injury was consistent with a laceration to the left side of the man's chest and was not life-threatening,” Williams said.

The suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Samir Alexis Deleon-Martinez, had fled the scene before officers arrived. He was located near Sullivan Park and taken into custody without further incident.

Deleon-Martinez, a new hire who had been working with the construction company for only a few days, allegedly approached the victim while the man was cleaning up trash and stabbed him in the chest, according to charging documents.

The confrontation escalated into a physical altercation that coworkers and a supervisor intervened to stop. Witnesses reported hearing the two men fighting and saw Deleon-Martinez “stab the victim,” police stated in the affidavit.

Investigators learned the two workers “did not get along” and had been arguing earlier in the day. Though they were later assigned to clean separate areas of the site, tensions flared again.

Deleon-Martinez told investigators that things between him and his coworker had been fine until around 2 p.m., when the coworker allegedly punched him in the shoulder. Later, he claimed the same coworker struck him in the head, prompting him to pull out a pocket knife and stab the man.

Following an interview with officers, Deleon-Martinez was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility. He faces a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. An additional charge for unlawful acquisition of a financial card was added after officers discovered a credit card during a search that did not belong to him.

The case was officially filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office on Thursday, and Deleon-Martinez has since made his first court appearance in 5th District Court in St. George. He is currently being held without bail.

“This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact,” the article states.

St. George News reporter Eric Goold contributed to this report.

Originally reported by Cody Blowers and E.George Goold in St George News.