A 21-year-old St. Paul man was charged with assault Monday after three men were stabbed and slashed with a box cutter outside a Maplewood nightclub early Friday.

Kongmeng Lee was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with three counts of second-degree assault.

Maplewood police responded to a fight at the Stargate Nightclub on Rice Street shortly before 2 a.m. Two Ramsey County Sheriff's deputies were working off-duty as security at the club and were called to help break up a fight in the parking lot. They told Maplewood officers that they saw Lee toss a yellow box cutter on the ground, according to the criminal complaint.

Three male victims were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A 23-year-old had a deep cut on his right shoulder and arm. A 19-year-old man had a large cut on his face, as well as cuts on his finger, chest and back. Another 19-year-old man had cuts on his thumb, scalp and lip.

The sheriff's deputies took Lee into custody at the scene after one of the victims identified him, the complaint said. Witnesses told police that there hadn't been any problems inside the club, but that Lee and the 23-year-old man started arguing as they walked to their cars.

Lora Pabst