Racially motivated machete attack alleged in Clearlake

A man is being held for a racially motivated machete attack at a Clearlake apartment complex where officers subsequently uncovered an unrelated cache of weapons, according to Clearlake police.

Anthony Hammond, 34, of Clearlake remained jailed Tuesday in connection with the assault, which caused serious injury to the victim, who is black. He is being held on charges that include aggravated mayhem, battery with serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting an officer, hate crime, battery on a person and two felony arrest warrants.

Hammond had been yelling racial slurs at people in the parking lot of a Lakeshore Drive apartment complex Saturday night before retrieving a machete from his apartment at about 8:15 p.m., according to Clearlake police. He continued yelling slurs as he struck the victim on the shoulder, police said. Information about the victim was unavailable.

Hammond then retreated to his apartment where he barricaded himself, triggering an evacuation of nearby residences, police said.

Officers saw through an apartment window that another man was sleeping on a couch while Hammond attempted to hide in the refrigerator before fleeing to the back bedroom, out of sight. They also said they could see an empty pistol case, leading them to believe Hammond was armed with the gun.

After several hours Hammond eventually came out of the apartment and was placed under arrest. While being transported to jail, he threatened to kill a police officer and his family, police said. Inside the apartment, police said they found a machete but no firearms.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 707-462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.