A man who attacked a woman with a hammer because he didn't like her driving was charged with assault Friday.
According to the complaint, Justin Cardinal, 33, who has no permanent address, was at a residence in Washington County on Thursday when he hit a man with a hammer. He was asked to leave.
Cardinal's female roommate and a female friend were driving from the residence when Cardinal jumped into the vehicle, according to the charging document. The roommate was driving to the Running Aces casino in Columbus, a small community in Anoka County, to drop off Cardinal and his friend when he became upset because he thought she wasn't driving in the right direction.
She stopped the vehicle and asked Cardinal to drive. Even after she allowed him to drive, he was still upset, the document said. While driving, he turned around and glared at her.
Eventually, Cardinal turned around to look at her and the vehicle went into a ditch in Anoka. They walked to a nearby residence and asked the homeowner for help. While the homeowner was assisting with the stuck vehicle, Cardinal took a hammer out of a bag and repeatedly hit his roommate in the head, the document said.
The homeowner called 911 and law enforcement responded, but Cardinal fled. After a search involving numerous law enforcement officers, a police canine and a helicopter, he was found in a vehicle in a detached garage. The hammer was in his backpack.
The victim was taken to the hospital and treated for injuries to her head and a fractured finger.
Cardinal was charged with felony second-degree assault and was being held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
