Man Arrested for Axe Attack on Drummer

A man was arrested for allegedly attacking a drummer with an ax in a Los Angeles County park last week. Timothy Jones voluntarily turned himself in at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s station in Santa Clarita, California, the department told CBS Los Angeles on April 8. The attack happened on April 2 at a trail near Todd Longshore Park.

The alleged victim was Andy Torres, who was playing his drums near the trail when a man carrying an ax tried to chop up his drums, he told CBS Los Angeles. “He just came up swinging already,” Torres, 36, said. “He didn’t announce himself or say get out of the way… He knew what he was going to do. I happened to just get out of the way.”

Torres said he wanted to “launch at the guy,” but he realized that was a bad idea. The attacker almost destroyed his drums before threatening him. Torres filmed most of the incident with a GoPro camera, but he did not film the attacker pulling out a gun. After Torres told the man he caught the incident on tape, the attacker’s attitude changed, and he left the scene. Torres managed to get a picture of the man’s car and license plate. Torres said he was practicing the drums at the time of the attack and wore a mask as part of his persona.

Torres filed a report to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and gave them the video. Although the drums are damaged, Torres said they are not totally destroyed. “It’s not destroyed. They’ll have to do better than that,” he told CBS Los Angeles.

According to the Santa Clarita Signal, Jones turned himself in and was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on bond Wednesday night, Deputy Natalie Arriaga, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, told the outlet.

Although Torres was not injured in the attack, he was still left shaken. “I get stuck thinking about that, and I have to pull myself out of it.” Torres told CBS News. “I know I will move ahead because look, I’m still here.”