Early Sunday morning, the Kansas City Police Department arrested a man who allegedly stabbed his neighbor and then lit items on fire as officers tried to arrest him.
According to court documents, a call came into KCPD dispatch just after 8:10 a.m. on March 2, 2025, with reports of a stabbing. When officers arrived at the home, located in the 120 block of N. White Avenue, they found a victim holding a three-pronged martial arts weapon called a “sai.” He claimed his neighbor had stabbed him with it.
The neighbor, identified as 33-year-old Zachary Triplett, lives in the upstairs unit of the apartment while the victim lives in the downstairs unit. Each apartment has its own entrance with the doors positioned next to each other.
The victim told officers he barely knew Triplett, but Triplett started kicking and beating his door so he opened it. As soon as he opened the door, he said Triplett “immediately” attacked him with the sai, stabbing him on his right arm, the left side of his upper chest and the top of his head.
Documents state the neighbor was able to wrestle the sai away from Triplett before shutting the door to his apartment and calling the police.
When help arrived, the victim was taken to an area hospital in reportedly critical condition . Before he left, however, officers watched as Triplett started throwing flaming items out the front door of his unit, which officers had to avoid being hit by.
A short time later, the officers watched as Triplett, who was reportedly naked with the hair on the left side of his head burned off, tried to run from the scene into the backyard. Officers took him into custody while the Kansas City Fire Department extinguished the fires he had set in his apartment.
Another neighbor provided cell phone video of the altercation, which reportedly shows the victim and a naked Triplett appearing to fight over an object
Previous cases detail that Triplett was convicted of 2nd and 3rd-degree domestic assault in 2020, as well as other “miscellaneous assault” charges since 2018.
Triplett is in Jackson County’s custody on a $50,000 bond. He is charged with felony first-degree assault- serious physical injury, and felony armed criminal action. A court date has not yet been set.
