Traveling vendor stabbed at fairgrounds encampment

A Florida man is recovering from stab wounds he sustained during an altercation at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton, authorities said Friday.

Wheaton police Chief Mark Field said the 37-year-old man was stabbed six times in the chest and torso during the fight late Thursday with 49-year-old James C. Adams, also of Florida. The victim's wounds are not considered life-threatening and he is expected to be released from Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield within the next few days.

The two men are food vendors who travel the country working at festivals and fairs, Field said.

Fairground officials allow vendors to camp in trailers while they are in the area working the plethora of Fourth of July events. Field said this is the first time police have been called to the encampment for a disturbance.

Field said the two men had been drinking and were arguing about a woman.

Adams was arrested without incident. He was awaiting a bond hearing Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Field said prosecutors most likely will seek misdemeanor battery charges after investigators determined the victim was the "initial aggressor" in the altercation.