MIAMI COUNTY — A man who stabbed a friend with a box cutter during an argument over bacon was sentenced to serve 14 months in prison on Monday.
Gregory Seipel, 47, was sentenced in Miami County Common Pleas Court by Judge Jeannine Pratt. Seipel entered a plea of guilty to an amended charge of fourth-degree felony assault. He originally was charged with second-degree felonious assault.
On Jan. 30, Miami County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a disturbance in the 7500 block of Sugar Grove Road near Covington.
According to the report, the victim stated he was watching TV with another subject when Seipel began to argue with him about the last piece of bacon left over from breakfast. Another male subject who witnessed the altercation said Seipel and the victim argued then Seipel allegedly cut the victim along the left side of his throat with a box cutter and threatened to kill him. The victim was able to get away and ran outside. The box cutter was located on the stove in the kitchen.
Seipel was released from prison last November after he served a 10-year sentence for burglary in Allen County. Seipel explained the friend in Ludlow Falls let him stay at his home on Sugar Grove Road so he could get his license and a car to get back on his feet again prior to the incident.
Seipel said he hated that the argument with the victim was “over a petty item or issue.”
“We were friends for a long time. I wasn’t trying to be a problem,” Seipel said.
Judge Pratt asked for clarification if the argument was over bacon. Seipel said the argument began earlier in the day about bacon and it continued throughout the day into the evening.
Miami County Prosecutor Tony Kendall said Seipel didn’t deserve liency due to his criminal history, which included three prior prison terms. Kendall said the victim took Seipel in to help him out and then “took a knife to a fist fight.”
“He’s a danger to the community,” Kendall said.
Pratt said she couldn’t ignore Seipel’s criminal history, which included violent behavior and noted his response to an argument was to pull out a box cutter and cut a man at the throat.
“It’s my job to protect the public,” Pratt said. “I believe you are a troubling factor if you remain in our community.”
Seipel was granted 68 days of jail credit.
