A Yukon Quest sled dog race musher has been charged with aggravated assault in connection with the stabbing of a 19-year-old man in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

On June 19, Sam Perrino saw a group of young men damaging an old vehicle, Yellowknife RCMP Sgt. Darcy Fleury said today from the N.W.T. capital.

Perrino was taking down the licence plates numbers of the vehicles on the scene to report to police, said Fleury.

The young men in the area then followed Perrino to his Kam Lake home, where there was a fight, said Fleury.

One of the men received one stab wound in his abdominal area. The man was flown to an Edmonton hospital.

Perrino was arrested later that night and was initially charged with attempted murder.

However, the charges were reduced to aggravated assault during a court appearance last Wednesday.

Information learned during further investigation of the incident led to evidence suggesting the incident was more suited to aggravated assault, said Fleury.

Perrino, 28, was a rookie and the youngest musher in the 2005 Quest.

He withdrew from the Whitehorse-to-Fairbanks race in Dawson City, saying his dogs just weren't up to the endurance and he had made too many rookie mistakes.

Perrino's next court appearance is scheduled for July 26.