Report: Suspect threatened family member with hammer
A Longmont man who was arrested Thursday afternoon for attempted first-degree assault and other offenses had allegedly tried to assault a family member with a hammer.
According to an arrest affidavit, 39-year-old Eric Knutson had recently been staying with the family member, and he had been out with friends on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, the family member said Knutson was tired and hungry, and he told the family member that he had a 10 a.m. dentist appointment.
When Knutson’s family member told him it was already 10:15 a.m., Knutson grew angry, started yelling, accused his family member of being “an alien” and said he was “going to kill” them, the affidavit stated. Throughout the rest of the day, Knutson would “yell unintelligibly” in the primary bedroom, occasionally coming out to yell at the family member before going back inside the bedroom.
At about 2:30 p.m., the affidavit stated, Knutson emerged from the bedroom, got “into (his family member’s) face” and repeated that he believed his family member was an alien and he wanted to kill them. The family member, worried for their safety, pushed Knutson back, which triggered him to become violent. At one point, Knutson grabbed a hammer, held it over his head “in a threatening manner” and chased his family member through the house, according to the document. The family member believed Knutson was going to kill them.
The family member got into their truck and was waiting for the garage door to open when Knutson hit the truck’s rear view mirror with the hammer. As the family member pulled out of the garage, Knutson again swung the hammer at the rear driver’s side door of the truck. The family member drove away to another location and called police.
Knutson barricaded himself inside the house prior to being arrested at 3:32 p.m. by the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. He later received medical treatment at Longs Peak Hospital for injuries he sustained during his arrest. A hammer matching the description provided by the family member has been recovered from the scene.