EAST SYRACUSE -- An Onondaga County man is recovering after being stabbed by a bartender during an altercation early Thursday morning.

According to East Syracuse Police Chief Donald Morris, just after midnight an employee was tending bar at the Highland Grill on Highland Street in East Syracuse when he says he was approached by an unidentified man. The employee, identified as 64-year-old Robert T. Johnston of East Ellis Street in East Syracuse, says he was at work when the 51-year-old male approached him in a threatening manner. Johnston tells police he pulled a small knife out of his pocket and stabbed the victim.

Police say the victim, an east Syracuse resident, was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse with stab wounds to his stomach, left chest, and left hand. He was reported to be in stable condition as of late Thursday morning.

Officers arrested Johnston at the bar on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon.  He was arraigned and remanded to the Onondaga County Justice Center on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.