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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Police on Thursday arrested a man accused of attacking another man with either a machete or knife, causing the victim to have his thumb surgically reattached.
Eric Jones, 29, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury.
The victim told police he was in his South Salt Lake apartment on April 5 when Jones assaulted him "with a large knife or machete" and he thought "Eric Jones was going to kill him," according to a police affidavit.
The man suffered "extensive injuries to his hand, head, and neck" including a cut to his hand so severe that he "had to have his thumb attached back to his hand via surgery," the affidavit states.
Police say Jones left his cellphone behind in the victim's apartment, and the victim later identified Jones in a photo lineup.
"I located Eric at a court-ordered rehab center after he had been released from jail on unrelated charges," the arresting officer wrote.
Jones told detectives he had used a kitchen knife, but said he was provoked by the victim, according to the affidavit.
