Connor Hiestand
  • Photo courtesy of Tucson Police.
  • Connor Hiestand

Tucson Police and Fire Department responded to a 911 distress call from IBT’s around 11 p.m. Wednesday, March 19. Witnesses told investigators that two men began arguing and started fighting in the gay bar located at 616 N. Fourth Ave. Connor Hiestand, 21, allegedly pulled out a knife, lunged at the other male multiple times and fled the scene, according to TPD.

Based on the information gathered from witnesses, authorities were able to locate and arrest Hiestand shortly after the incident.

Hiestand has been charged with one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His bond has been set at $75,000. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital for stab wounds on the chest, back and arms. Tucson Police say the victim is in stable condition.

This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2014.

25 replies on “Suspect Arrested for Stabbing at Local Gay Bar”

  2. Why the need to say “gay” bar in your headline and story??? Seems like “stabbing outside of local bar” would have been sufficient!

  3. If they didn’t call it a gay bar, they couldn’t count it as a hate crime. Come on…get up to speed.

  4. Its the same when they report about a crooked politician. If the pol has an (R) after their name, party affiliation is prominently mentioned. If the crooked pol has a (D), that information is not mentioned or its buried in the story.

  7. Looks like nothing to complain about on ADI, so the trolls stopped by to leave their marks.

  11. Wouldn’t it be nice if there didn’t have to be ANY kind of ban? If people could act and speak appropriately? Maybe we should ban stupid.

  12. One ugly dude! ~ Gandalf
    Gandalf, he may not feel very attracted to you either. ~ Hurri

    Hurri, it is my contention that Tucson has the least attractive criminal class of all the cities in which I have lived.

    Check the CH4 MUG SHOT page. Have you ever seen such a group? Come on, be honest.

  13. So I guess Gandalf’s ideal lede for this would be, “Yet another ugly man stabs someone less ugly than he is. Police say jealousy suspected.”

    Gandalf, I hope your intent is as satirical as mine. Otherwise we can expect a lot of ugly/pretty whining here to go along with the gay/straight whining.

    A guy got stabbed. In a gay bar. Sounds like a simple news story to me, unworthy of any of this discussion. But yet, here we are – we must just love it.

  14. Its a story because this town lives off of three things. The University, The military and its industrial complex and its scene, when someone gets stabbed in its wallet every one should take notice. It doesn’t take a liberal to figure that out.

  15. Yes, Hurri, I am being a snark and satirical. But, for the record, did you get a gander at the two miscreants who (allegedly) starved their child?

    And, for the record, if I go to a gay bar, I expect to see attractive people! *snark!!

  16. My heart goes out to the victim and his family. My heart also goes out to Connor and his mother. This young man had a rough life; I am so sorry to hear that this happened. It is heartache for everyone involved and everyone who knew Connor during another period of his life when good things seemed possible for him.

  17. I’m sorry but having a rough life is no excuse for violence of any kind. I really feel bad for anyone that has had a rough life but as you get older you should be able to make things better for yourself. Life is what you make of it no matter what kind of life you had.

  20. Statistics show that people who are in a “Gay Bar” have a 83-98% chance of being homosexual. So therefore I believe the violent fellony Connor is guilty of performing had nothing to do with sexuality. Turning Connor free is not a very intelligent concept. Violent felons should be locked up in either a prison or a mental institution. Once Connor is imprisoned everyone on earth will be less likely to be murdered.

  21. This is extremely hilarious. This article only states what happened not why. When faced the an extreme situation extreme things will happen. It is very likely that Conner did not have a “rough life” that he was simply an unlucky patron of IBT’s who felt it necessary to take extreme measures.

  22. He did go through some tough times…but, everyone has tough times, and through his life people have reached out to him…he simply pushed them away. But that may or may not have anything to do with his actions. Maybe he was feeling really bussed or drunk and didn’t think twice about what he was doing. Who knows, and really, who cares at this point. I am just glad the other guy is ok. I feel more sorry for Conner’s mom. Most Moms care, and want to fix things…this one I’m afraid is out of her hands.

  23. This is my little brother. I feel that, while this article is over a year old, I need to address some of the things said on its comments now, since everything is over and done with and anyone who finds this article will see at least once impartial (or at least mostly impartial voice) who knows what happened. Please feel free to skip this comment, since its long and opinionated, and I am /very/ disappointed in the responses here, both for my family and the family of the young man my brother hurt.

    None of you have proper context, and out of respect for the family of the man he hurt, I’m not going to say anything about that context. But before anyone says /anything/ about a crime, they need to do the research and ask themselves if they have the /right/ to say anything. Reporting a crime is a civic duty, and keeping it to the bare minimum here is actually appropriate, considering how this event played out. I am glad that the reporter of this article included relevant, accurate information, especially in a publication that I read regularly, and respect the integrity of.

    Secondly: regarding the title, and the subsequent comments pointing at reporting it as a hate crime. Location is important yes, and you should know that this was NOT a hate crime. I am bisexual, and my brother has met and got along with my partners of either gender. His roommate at the time is gay, and was a fine young man, and neither he nor Conner expressed any sort of discomfort with the situation. Conner has NO issue with the community and everyone who is saying that he did, clearly does not have the memory of their little brother making them break down in tears because he told them that it was okay to not have a boyfriend, to not want to be completely female, and that family matters more than the gender of who you end up with. I stand by my assertion that this was NOT a hate crime, but a very bad decision made in a high-controversy setting that yes, people need to know about, but that nobody needs to speculate on; re: lack of context. Without evidence, speculation will only lead to unwarranted vilification of a young man, who has not ONCE earned that.

    My little brother made a /stupid/ decision. I am angry and disappointed that he made this decision, and the justice system has handled it accordingly. I am not going to see my brother for a very long time. Please consider that people make bad choices, especially if they are young. We did have it rough, and I agree that there is no excuse. Someone got /hurt/, and I did my best to teach him better than that. This has ripped my mother apart, torn me to shreds, and I am certain that my father still has no idea what happened, because he has had no contact with my brother for over a decade. There is NEVER an excuse for violence against another human being, only awful reasons. As tempting as it is to cast blame and doubt, to give excuses and try to justify it, there is NEVER a reason to lay hands on someone without their permission, in any context.

    I’m posting this because people need to know that context is important, and that there is so little here to go on that speculation just makes you look like an alarmist, and if we wanted that we would see it in the editorials. It does not add to the dialogue on violence in the community. It does not add to the discussion of safe spaces for people of ALL ages, no matter their orientation, identity, or affiliation. It does not add to the dialogue on how to /end/ violence, or teach respect. Nor does it shed light on a situation where two young men made /awful/ choices, and suffered the consequences in kind.

    What should be seen in this is simple. This young man made a terrible mistake, and he is paying for it in kind. His family has suffered for it greatly, and we continue and will continue to suffer the consequences of his actions. Its been a year, and I still feel the gaping hole in my life that I will never get back, because the man I meet again will not be the same young man I said goodbye to. Calling him ugly in a context where nobody looks good is petty and cruel, when you don’t know how brilliant he is when he smiles.

    The next time you see something like this, consider whether or not what you have to say is appropriate, to the family of either party. I’m glad that the young man he hurt is okay, and was never even in critical condition. I’m glad that his mother still has her son, and I hope he finds a place to be safe, express himself, and that he finds someone who treats him like a human being. Everyone deserves that.

    Next time, consider why this is such a common story that there needs to be less than a hundred words to report it, and consider too that every time something like this is reported, its not just one person that is affected. Violence is a disease that is rampant in our community, and we all need to do something about it. Rather than making a comment about an ugly mug shot, maybe try seeing the violence in your community, and doing something about it before it escalates.

    M. Hiestand

  24. M. HIESTAND
    Perhaps your comments are appropriate. Certainly, given your relationship to the perpetrator. But the video–the ones the public has never seen–from the bar in which the incident occurred, tells a largely different story. Your brother had some pretty decent relations with the victim–tongue and all. He then waited for the victim to leave the bathroom. He stabbed him. He LICKED the knife. He stabbed him mor, walked out, left him, picked up his beer and had a drink–toasted the camera–and calmly left. I hope he rotts, and you for coming to his defense.

  25. Connor was and still is a good young man. He mad a dumb choice. There’s a reason we have a system that is built to rehabilitate people. This kid Connor is brilliant when it comes to smarts but troubled when it comes to tough decisions. Sometimes we need a few bumps and bruises before we become who we are designed to be. One thing I can promise is that this kid has a heart of a lion. Sorry to say we do make decisions based on our pass (human nature). But, let God be his final judge not us. Pray for him and the victim. We need a world that helps trouble kids before this become the results.

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