Corte Madera man arrested in Sebastopol hammer attack

Police on Friday arrested a Corte Madera man on suspicion of beating a man with a hammer during a road rage attack in Sebastopol.

Sean Exter, 24, was taken into custody on Friday without incident, said Sebastopol Police Acting Sgt. David Harston. He was arrested on one count of assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the Sonoma County Jail.

The incident was triggered after the victim had attempted to take a photo of a red sedan police said was driven by Exter, which was doing donuts and driving recklessly on Bodega Avenue just after 8 a.m. on Thursday, police said.

The victim could not get a good shot of the car and continued to head toward downtown, police said.

When the victim pulled up to the stoplight at Pleasant Hill Road, the red car pulled up next to him in the left-hand turn lane.

Exter got out of the car carrying a hammer and approached the victim's car window and started beating him with a hammer, police said.

He then got back into his car and drove away, authorities said.

Harston said police were able to tie the vehicle back to Exter through a description of the car and its license plate number, though the number originally reported to police appeared to be incorrect.

Officer Cameron Fenske developed information that indicated the car was in Corte Madera. The Central Marin Police Authority went to the address where the car was registered and located Exter. Fenske then responded to that address and Exter was arrested.

The victim was bleeding from the back of the head when police arrived and was taken to the hospital.

A woman who said she was the mother of the victim emailed and called The Press Democrat on Friday and said her son was recovering from the attack and has had difficulty walking.

She added the victim has a large wound in the back of his head that required stitches, among other wounds, including a mark on his upper back in the shape of a hammer.

The victim is a single father with a young daughter, and the attack has prevented him from working as a plumber for the time being. He will have no income coming in while he recovers, his mother said.

The victim had just dropped off his daughter at daycare, the woman said. Occasionally, his daughter accompanies him on jobs, but she was not with him Thursday.

The woman said a parks department employee assisted her son in the aftermath and another person recorded the attack on video and shared it with police.

The hammer was not recovered, Harston said.

Anyone who witnessed the assault is asked to contact Officer Fenske at 829-4400.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.