Tucson bar patrons stopped an attack Saturday by a man with a hatchet that left three people wounded, police said.
It marked one of the city’s several hatchet attacks thwarted by witnesses since the year began.
Tony Nieves, 60, was subdued by patrons as he tore through The Jackrabbit Lounge, 2000 N. Oracle Rd., striking three people with a hatchet before a customer and several staffers were able to take the weapon and subdue him until police arrived, an interim complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court says.
Nieves was arrested on suspicion of three counts of aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument, two counts of aggravated assault with temporary but substantial disfigurement, and criminal damage for breaking $1,400 worth of mirrors inside the lounge. His bond was set at $100,000.
In the unprovoked attack, Nieves is accused of using the hatchet to strike one person on the top of the head, and another person in the hand. As he moved through the lounge he began swinging the hatchet at a third person, striking him in the head, knocking him to the ground. He then struck the person a second time, the complaint says.
Two of the people struck sustained significant injuries and were taken to the hospital, the complaint says.
During the attack, a bystander struck Nieves with a chair, subduing him as staff members took the hatchet away, Tucson police wrote in the complaint.
“Tucson Police would not ask anyone to put themselves in harm’s way; however, we are grateful to those patrons and staff members who intervened and stopped the violence,” Tucson police said in a statement to the Star. “We always encourage everyone to be aware of their surroundings.”
Days later, staff has banded together to move past the “traumatizing” incident.
“I just really want to take this moment to extend my incredible love and gratitude to my staff and our patrons,” says a post on the Facebook page for the Jackrabbit Lounge. “Everyone came together in a terrifying moment to protect one another and ultimately subdue the random attacker. We are so proud to be a part of this amazing community.”
An unrelated attack earlier this year that involved a hatchet was fatal.
About 10 a.m. April 5, Jake Couch, 32, and his wife, Kristen, were at a bus stop downtown when they were confronted by a passerby. Daniel Michael, Jr., then 25, pulled a hatchet from inside his jacket and struck Couch in the neck, according to police and court records.
Couch died at a hospital about two weeks later.
Couch’s alleged killer, Daniel Michael, Jr., 26, was charged with murder and remains in custody at the Pima County Jail on a $1 million bond.
In an unrelated attack on May 12, two people were wounded by a man with a hatchet at a bus stop near the intersection of North Sabino Canyon and East Tanque Verde roads.
In that incident, Frank Lopez, 43, was reportedly yelling and talking to himself when he accused a woman exiting the bus of taking his photo, a complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court says.
A man carrying a hatchet tried to intervene, but it fell from his waistband onto the ground. Lopez grabbed the hatchet and struck the man in the head, opening a flap of skin, the complaint says.
The girlfriend of the wounded man tried to help, but she too was struck with the hatchet by Lopez, the complaint says. She suffered a large gash on her arm.
Lopez remains jailed on charges of two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault causing serious injury.
