LEWISTON – Police believe a fight over a man may have led to a stabbing that left one woman hospitalized and another under arrest for aggravated assault.

Margaret Farnum, 20, of Main Street, was being treated at Central Maine Medical Center with a stab wound to her abdomen that caused internal damage, police said. She was listed in stable condition at the hospital Friday night, according to a nursing supervisor.

Kristy Nadeau, 23, of 123 Strawberry Ave., was behind bars Friday night, accused of stabbing Farnum with a pocketknife.

Investigators said they found Farnum lying on a car and clutching the wound at about 3:15 a.m. Friday after receiving a report of a fight outside 82 Oak St.

Before they knew about the stabbing, two police sergeants were questioning Nadeau and another woman several blocks away on another matter.

“The suspects were detained before the officers had been dispatched to the call,” said Deputy Chief Michael Bussiere.

Shortly after 3 a.m., sergeants Kelly Hamel and Adam Higgins were on patrol when they spotted a vehicle turning from Oak to Bartlett Street without stopping at a light, police said.

The officers followed the car toward the downtown area and pulled it over on Pierce Street. Inside the car was Nadeau and another woman, police said they believed both had just left 82 Oak St.

As the officers were questioning the women about erratic driving, a police bulletin came over their radio advising them to be on the lookout for two women wanted in connection with a stabbing.

The description of the vehicle matched the one Higgins and Hamel had stopped, police said. Both women were taken to the police station for questioning.

“The two officers thought something was amiss, and they followed up on it,” Bussiere said. “They were being observant. It was good police work.”

Nadeau was charged with elevated aggravated assault while the second woman was released. Police said they recovered a pocketknife which they believe had been thrown from the suspect’s car.

The motive for the stabbing was still being investigated Friday night. A detective said it was believed Farnum and Nadeau had scrapped in a dispute over a boyfriend.

The charge against Nadeau is considered elevated because of what police deemed a “depraved indifference to the value of human life.”