Update: Orland man recovers after stabbing

A 66-year-old Orland man is recovering at home today after he was stabbed in the neck early Friday.

Gregory Francis Gebhart Jr., was taken to Enloe Medical Center in a private vehicle after an alleged assailant attacked him with a knife on the 7000 block of County Road 19, west of Orland.

An Enloe nursing supervisor said Gebhart was treated and released the same day.

Glenn County Sheriff’s deputies received a 911 call regarding a stabbing around 10:30 a.m., and by 11:15 a.m. a suspect was in bracelets.

Deputies arrested 45-year-old Thomas Anthony Smrstick of Orland. Smrstick was a tenant for more than a year on property owned by Gebhart.

According to the Sheriff’s office, Gebhart was visiting Smrstick at his fifth wheel trailer home on the 7000 block of Road 19.

“Gebhart got into his vehicle to leave when Smrstick is alleged to have approached stabbing him in the neck, reaching in the driver’s side window of Gebhart’s vehicle,” Sheriff Larry Jones said in a prepared statement.

Gebhart was able to drive away and used his cell phone to contact his daughter for help, according to Jones.

Investigators have not released any possible motive for the incident, but said in a press release that Gebhart told deputies that Smrstick “displayed odd behavior” prior to the alleged attack.

The incident remains under investigation.

Smrstick remained in custody Sunday on suspicion of attempted murder; his is bail set at $150,000.

Contact Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com. Rick Longley contributed reporting.