Houston police file charges in bar stabbing case nearly 3 years later

Lately, Grant Farley feels like he’s won the lottery.

In 2021, Farley reported that he had been stabbed by a co-worker and was dismayed when Houston police did not follow up on him, saying they were inundated with reports. Now, almost three years later, the man accused of this act has been charged with aggravated assault.

Farley’s case is one of more than 264,000 incident reports filed with the Houston Police Department since 2016 that have been suspended using an internal code citing understaffing. Farley’s case is one of the few that has been reinvestigated and led to new charges.

“What are the chances?” he said.

When Farley first contacted police about what happened in December 2021, he said detectives told him they wanted to help him, but they were receiving about 1,500 reports per months and that they only had 40 detectives to investigate them.

“At first I felt like it was a lost cause,” he said. “I was in a really depressed mood, I thought I should just move on. But since I had my second opportunity to get justice, I took it.

ANOTHER ABANDONED CASE: A former Houston cop says he solved his own robbery and took it to HPD. They never called him back.

It was on Dec. 19 that he met Joshua Naras, 25, at a bar on N. Shepherd, according to court records. Farley had worked for Naras’ parents since 2016 and with their son since 2021. But Farley planned to quit to return to school. Naras allegedly did not take it well, becoming angry and breaking a beer bottle, which he is accused of breaking and using to stab him, according to court records. Farley says he raised his hands to stop Naras from stabbing him in the face and his hands were severed instead.

Farley went to the hospital and then called police immediately afterward, he said.

After this first call, there was radio silence. He couldn’t even get help from a detective when he realized the bar had security video of his stabbing, but he wouldn’t give it to anyone but a police officer, Farley said.

“I did everything I could,” Farley said. “I’ve been proactive because I know the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I called and called and called.

Farley said the experience has been completely different since a detective contacted him in March to say he was reviewing his case as part of the ongoing review of suspended cases. “All the guys I’ve worked with have been fantastic,” he said. “I don’t want to dwell on the negative. It’s a horrible situation, I’m not saying it isn’t. But moving forward, I’m very impressed. I feel like they care and are working hard to get justice in my case.

Naras was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the case Thursday morning.

As of May 1, HPD officers had made 22 arrests in cases initially suspended due to lack of staffing, after a department review. Former Chief Troy Finner called suspending cases for that reason unacceptable and said the department won’t do it again, especially not in violent crime cases.

As the suspended cases are reviewed, other arrested defendants include:

Abelardo Vasquez: A man first reported that Abelardo Vasquez, 33, stabbed him while trying to steal his vehicle in January 2022, according to court records. The victim at the time told investigators she knew Vasquez and could identify him.

Police have reopened the case as part of the ongoing review. In the years that followed, the victim even turned to Facebook to find Vasquez’s address. Using that information, combined with what they learned in 2022, prosecutors filed a robbery charge against Vasquez in April, according to court records.

Pablo Esteban Martínez: Several witnesses and the man’s wife reported Martinez, 43, to police in October 2023 after he allegedly beat his wife, attacked a passerby who tried to intervene on his behalf and nearly hit his wife and a second good Samaritan with his vehicle.

Court records show detectives reopened the case and filed charges after reviewing body camera footage from responding officers and contacting Martinez and the second bystander, who provided his phone number to police in 2023 .

Eddie Cliffton Ball: In October 2022, a woman reported that her stepson assaulted her and threatened to kill her when she confronted him about stealing her dress and cell phone. This was not the first time she reported an assault, according to court documents.

Detectives re-examined the case as part of the ongoing review and prosecutors filed a misdemeanor assault charge against Eddie Cliffton Ball, 34, according to court records.