(CENTRALIA, IL) — Centralia police responded around 11:15 Thursday night to a report of a stabbing in the area of 12 and Elm streets. Upon arrival they discovered a male victim who had reportedly been stabbed multiple times in the neck and back. The victim told police he tried to interrupt a robbery by two white males in a white van when he was stabbed. The suspect reportedly ran toward the junior high and the van sped away heading east. The suspect on foot was described as a white male approximately 6-feet 2-inches tall, average build, wearing a long dark trench coat with a fur trimmed hood. EMTs responding to the scene reportedly noticed a man hiding behind GenFed and alerted police, who then pursued the man to the 1000 block of South Maple Street where he was apprehended. A K-9 unit was called in to search for evidence the suspect may have tossed as he ran. Names of the suspect and victim were not yet available. It is unclear if the van or its driver were found. The victim was transported to the SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital ER in Centralia for treatment of his injuries. His condition is unknown.