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Mechanic tells of horrifying scene in Philly stabbing spree

When Arnold Goode saw the exhaust pipe on Nathan Ackison's car dragging and sparking at 49th Street and Chester Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, he told Ackison and his wife to follow him to his Southwest Philadelphia garage.

Arnold Goode was talking with Nathan Ackison in Southwest Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon when Ronald Stanley came up and stabbed Ackison.
Arnold Goode was talking with Nathan Ackison in Southwest Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon when Ronald Stanley came up and stabbed Ackison.Read moreStephanie Farr / Staff

When Arnold Goode saw the exhaust pipe on Nathan Ackison's car dragging and sparking at 49th Street and Chester Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, he told Ackison and his wife to follow him to his Southwest Philadelphia garage.

There, as Ackison and Goode stood next to Ackison's car, Ronald Stanley, 56, approached without a word.

He spun Ackison around and stabbed him in his chest as Ackison's wife and Goode looked on in horror, according to Goode and police.

Ackison, 30, stumbled and fell in the middle of the 5500 block of Baltimore Avenue. Goode watched as Ackison's blood pooled in the street.

"It was like something right out of the movies," Goode said. As a crowd formed, Stanley walked away, Goode said.

"He had a crazy look on his face, like he was high," Goode said.

What Goode, 54, didn't know was that Stanley had randomly stabbed two other men moments before, police said.

"It's a senseless and very, very bizarre incident," Homicide Capt. James Clark said.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said there was no indication that Stanley knew his victims.

"I don't think there's anything you can wrap your brain around," Ross said. "It's just crazy."

Police and those interviewed in the neighborhood say they believe Stanley's attacks were fueled by drugs.

Some residents, like Goode, theorized that Stanley was high on "wet," a street term for marijuana dipped in PCP or formaldehyde. Police are awaiting blood test results.

"It would appear that for this bizarre act to happen, he was on some type of drug," Clark said, "but what type of drug, I don't know."

According to police, Stanley's rampage began around 1:30 p.m. when he walked into a small Cricket cellphone store on the 5500 block of Baltimore. There he allegedly stabbed a man who had come to pay his wife's cellphone bill.

James Lowrie, 27, a Cricket manager-in-training, said he was told by a witness that Stanley and the 31-year-old victim rushed for the door, but Stanley got out first.

"The guy that got stabbed was holding onto the door for like 10 minutes," Lowrie said. "He couldn't really get up."

Police say Stanley left the store and confronted Clifford Medley, 52, who was waiting in a parked car for the man Stanley stabbed inside. According to police, Stanley climbed into the car and started swinging his knife wildly at Medley.

Medley suffered severe cuts to his fingers but fought Stanley off, according to his mother, Beatrice.

"He's still scared. He's going to be scared for a long time," Beatrice Medley said. "It's crazy. People come up and just want to kill you, and they don't know you."

Police said Clifford Medley drove himself and his friend to nearby Mercy Philadelphia Hospital. Both men were listed in stable condition.

Stanley then walked across the street and stabbed Ackison, police said.

"It was unbelievable," Goode said. "His wife was in there, in the car, she was like, 'Oh, my God! Oh, my God!'

"There was so much blood. I ain't never seen that much blood in my life."

Goode said he dialed 911 and followed Stanley after the stabbing.

Goode said he tailed Stanley for about a block and a half to just outside a nearby Family Dollar store, then pointed him out to arriving officers.

"He put his hands up, so he knew what he done," Goode said. "And he still had the knife in his pocket."

Police confirmed that they confiscated a knife from Stanley, of the 1100 block of South 58th Street, when he was arrested.

Stanley, who has a "lengthy and violent criminal history," according to Clark, has been charged with murder, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and related offenses.

He will spend Thursday - his 56th birthday - behind bars.

Goode marveled that he survived.

"It could have been me," he said. "It's just crazy."