Man stabbed in fight over shoveled-out parking space in Boston, police say

An argument over a shoveled-out parking space in Boston, a week and a half after the city's eighth-biggest snowstorm on record, turned violent when a man was stabbed, police say.

Enel Javier, 47, is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. Police say the stabbing victim had discovered Javier's car on Evans Street in Dorchester, "parked in a space [the victim] believed he had personally cleared of snow."

An altercation ensued, and Javier allegedly stabbed the 41-year-old man in the hand with a knife. A woman who intervened was also hurt while trying to disarm Javier, police said.

Officers responded at about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday to the scene. They found Javier with the injured man and woman, as well as blood on nearby snowbanks.

"Through further investigation by responding officers and District B-3 detectives, it was determined that the incident originated from a dispute over a shoveled parking space," police said.

Javier was arraigned in Dorchester District Court Wednesday. A Suffolk County district attorney's office spokesperson said prosecutors asked for $500 bail, but he was released on personal recognizance and his next court date is April 2.

It snowed more than 20 inches in Boston on Jan. 25-26, and there has been very little melting since then thanks to a historic cold stretch that followed, making streets and sidewalks hard to navigate.  

Space savers to hold a shoveled-out parking spot are only allowed in Boston for 48 hours after a snow emergency ends. The snow emergency from the most recent storm ended nearly a week ago.

Despite the rule, drivers who take a "saved" spot in Boston have previously been subject to threats and vandalism to their cars.