A 49-year-old Tempe resident who was kicked out of a friend's house is accused of threatening to kill that friend, before attacking him with a hedge trimmer.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, Jeffrey Bergstrom and the unidentified "friend" have been in several physical fights before, but the hedge trimmer incident is the first one that warranted police involvement.
Although Bergstrom was just recently arrested in the case, the incident occurred on May 20, while Bergstrom was at the friend's house, off Continental Drive, near the Scottsdale/Tempe border.
Court documents don't indicate what transpired before the altercation, but state that the victim was trying to escort Bergstrom off his property when he came after him.
According to the documents, Bergstrom told his friend, "I'm going to kill you," and jabbed him in the stomach with the tip of the hedge trimmer.
Bergstrom's friend started struggling with him, at one point getting a grip on one of the hedge trimmer blades, in an attempt to wrestle it away.
According to the court documents, Bergstrom took off an a bicycle as the altercation ended, and police couldn't find him at the time.
The victim seems to be a bit lucky with his injuries, given the circumstances, as court documents indicate he suffered a bruise to his stomach, as well as cuts on both his hands and one of his legs. Only one of the cuts, on his hand, required stitches.
Police tracked down Bergstrom a couple weeks after the altercation, and Bergstrom told police he was the victim of the hedge-trimmer attack.
Bergstrom had a single, one-inch cut on his hand, according to the documents. He denied jabbing his pal with the hedge-trimmer, and denied threatening to kill him.
Still, Bergstrom was booked into jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
According to court documents, Bergstrom has been arrested multiple times on drug charges in the past, and has a history of failing to show up to court dates.
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