Hawaii County police have opened an attempted murder investigation after a stabbing at a beach park in the Keaukaha area of Hilo. 

Police arrested a 46-year-old Ocean View man on Laukaou St. in Hilo shortly after the stabbing Saturday afternoon.

Police responded to 4-Mile Beach Park at 2:15 p.m. and learned that a 41-year-old Hilo man had been stabbed multiple times in the back during a fight.

He was on his way to the hospital in a private vehicle, which came upon a Fire Department rescue crew responding to the scene, police said. The rescue crew took him to Hilo Hospital in critical, but stable condition.

The suspect was being held at the police cellblock on suspicion of attempted murder while detectives continue their investigation.