An attempted theft early Wednesday morning turned into a fight and injuries leaving the suspect missing a large portion of his nose, APD reported.

According to the report, a man and his wife were asleep in their motorhome on the 1900-block of East 4th Avenue when they were awakened by the sounds of someone on their RV’s roof. The man got up and went outside and saw a man, now identified as 38-year-old Robert Moses Leroy Russell, attempting to steal a bicycle from the bike rack.

When police arrived at the scene, the observed Russell bleeding from the nose and face and the RV owner standing next to his RV covered in blood. They opened an investigation.

The investigation revealed that the man confronted Russell as he was working to steal the bicycle at which time Russell got down and initiated a violent confrontation with the victim. During the ensuing fight, Russell used a small pointed instrument to stab the victim in the chest and leg.

As the fight continued, Russell bit the victim in the arm and in turn, the victim leaned down and bit Russell in the face taking off a large chunk of his nose, police reported.

The victim transported himself to the hospital for treatment of his puncture injuries and police transported Russell to a local hospital for treatment of his facial injuries.

A felony assault warrant was obtained by the police department for Russell’s arrest.

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