Man accused of terrorizing Utah community

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MURRAY, Utah, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A hatchet-wielding man terrorized several homes in a neighborhood in Murray, Utah, before police pulled him off the roof of a house, authorities said.

Police allege Ammon Jacob Woodhead, 27, stole a vehicle in Salt Lake City and arrived on Vincrest Drive in Murray early Tuesday, where he broke into a home and attacked a person sleeping inside. A second person in the home scared the intruder away with a metal club and a flashlight, police said.

After allegedly failing to break into a second house on the block and knocking on the door of a third, Woodhead is accused of ringing the doorbell of a fourth home before climbing onto the roof, police said.

"I heard somebody on my roof, and then I came down and looked out the blinds and there was a whole bunch of cops and people with flashlights up and down the street, and I could hear the guy on my roof trying to chop the air conditioner off to get into my home," said an unidentified woman in the fourth house.

The homeowner, identified as Bill Land, said the intruder smashed out windows in a workshop adjacent to the home's carport, then climbed onto the roof.

Police said they persuaded Woodhead to drop the hatchet, but he put a knife to his throat. Police then sprayed him with water, and shot him with a bean-bag gun and a stun gun, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reported Wednesday, noting a police dog was also taken onto the roof.

After an hour, Woodhead was persuaded to surrender. He was taken to a hospital for various injuries, then booked into Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, criminal mischief and other charges, the newspaper said.

Murray police detective Kenny Bass said investigators believe Woodhead was "under the influence of something," noting shots from the stun gun did not seem to faze him.

Utah state court records indicate Woodhead has a history of drug- and theft-related charges against him, the newspaper said.