Ragon Sandoval is accused of stabbing a man in Maricopa. PCSO photo

A Maricopa man is in critical condition after being stabbed in a fight Thursday, and his alleged assailant is behind bars.

The fight took place in the 49000 block of Julie Lane south of Maricopa. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was called around 9:45 p.m. by a resident who reported a man going door-to-door asking for help.

When a deputy arrived, a resident directed him to a man lying on a porch with four serious stab wounds. As the 39-year-old victim was being treated, he told first responders he was stabbed by Ragon Thomas Sandoval, a homeless man living in the area.

Sandoval, 29, turned out to be the man who was reported going door-to-door in the neighborhood.

“Deputies located Ragon Sandoval in an abandoned shack nearby the crime scene,” Sheriff Paul Babeu said. “He claimed to have been assaulted by a group of men in the street and he stabbed one man with a knife in self-defense. The investigators were unable to substantiate an assault that justified the suspect stabbing the victim.”

Sandoval was arrested and booked into PCSO jail pending charges of aggravated assault causing injury, aggravated assuault with a deadly weapon and being a fugitive from justice. The victim was flown to a Phoenix trauma center, where he remains.