Security guard in critical condition after being attacked with hammer

A security guard at a Pontiac apartment complex is hospitalized in critical condition after being attacked with a hammer and left unconscious in a pool of blood, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.

A 34-year-old Pontiac man was arrested a short time later as the assailant and is in the Oakland County Jail. Charges are pending.

According to the sheriff’s office, it was at around 11 p.m. Sunday when a caller reported the attack at the Phoenix Place Apartments, located at 47251 Woodward Ave., and gave a description of the suspect and the vehicle he had fled in. Deputies spotted the vehicle and began following it, then observed the driver losing control and hitting a stop sign at Woodward Avenue and Pike Street. He was taken into custody.

The injured man, a 34-year-old West Bloomfield resident, was unresponsive at the scene, lying on the sidewalk near the apartment complex’s main entrance, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies started life-saving measures, which were taken over by Star EMS paramedics who transported him to McLaren Oakland Hospital. He was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, the sheriff’s office said.

The hammer used in the attack was recovered by deputies. The incident is under investigation.