Man arrested in Naples coffee shop stabbing faces attempted murder charge

A Collier County man arrested following a stabbing at a downtown Naples coffee shop faces charges of attempted murder and battery on a law enforcement officer, according to an arrest report.

William Lyons, 53, was arrested Tuesday morning after witnesses said he stabbed another patron at a popular coffee shop at Fifth Avenue South and Sixth Street South, Naples police said in an arrest report. He is being held without bail at the Naples Jail Center.

Shortly after 7 a.m. and "(w)ithout provocation," Lyons lunged at another man sitting outside the restaurant and started stabbing him with such force that the 3-inch blade went through the man's right wrist and into his left chest cavity, the report states.

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The victim's friend, sitting at the same table,hit Lyons over the head with a chair to fend him off, the friend told the Daily News. Using plastic chairs, witnesses were able to keep Lyons in check until police arrived, the report states.

The victim was taken to NCH Baker Hospital Downtown, where police later interviewed him. He told detectives Lyons was "rocking back and forth in a chair at a table next to him" before he attacked him with the knife, according to the report. 

The man told police he used his right hand to shield his heart and that he believed Lyons would have stabbed his heart had he not blocked the blade with his hand, the report states.

He told detectives he had "never seen Lyons before and never exchanged any words with him," according to the report.

The man told police Lyons was "grunting" when he lunged at him, the report states.

The victim's condition was not known Wednesday, but his friend said Tuesday that he was recovering.

Video surveillance from the coffee shop corroborates victim and witness statements, police said.

Before Lyons was taken to the Collier County Jail, he asked to speak with a detective, the report states. When he met with the detective, Lyons "intentionally spit saliva" into his face "and told him to charge him with that too," according to the report.

Lyons "was aware of his actions" and asked whether "he was going to be charged with murder or attempted murder" while on his way to the jail, police wrote in the report.

Lyons also asked "if the guy lived or died," the report states.

He has prior convictions for misdemeanor battery and was previously acquitted in a battery on a law enforcement officer "for the reason of insanity," according to the report.

Court records show Lyons was arrested at the David Lawrence Center, which serves as the primary mental health provider in Collier, last year on suspicion of misdemeanor battery after deputies said he spat on a staff member.

He was adjudicated guilty, served 30 days in jail and was placed on six months' probation, court documents show.

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