The suspect in an early-morning stabbing told police that he was carrying a knife, but not the one he used to stab a man on LaGrange Street, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JAMES N. RANDOLPH (D.O.B. 6/27/60), who has no fixed address, was arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court this morning on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly stabbing a 53-year-old Mattapan man at about 2:40 this morning. Assistant District Attorney Katherine Powell recommended that he be held on $50,000 cash bail; Judge Edward Redd adopted that recommendation.

Powell told the court that Boston Police responded to the area of Lagrange and Washington Streets for a report of a person stabbed and found the victim suffering from a knife wound to his chest that was not life-threatening. That man was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment.

Also at the scene were two witnesses who said they heard arguing from a nearby parking lot and saw the assailant running down LaGrange Street toward Tremont Street. Using a description provided by the witnesses, additional Boston Police officers spotted Randolph near the intersection of Beach Street and Harrison Avenue.

“The knife I used, I threw it in the sewer,” he allegedly said prior to his arrest. Later, after being read his Miranda rights, he allegedly said, “I have a red knife in my pocket but it’s not the knife I used.”

Officers retrieved a Swiss Army Knife from Randolph’s pocket.

Randolph has a five-page adult record that dates back to 1984 and includes a 1988 conviction for manslaughter, prosecutors said at arraignment. He will return to court on Aug. 4.