Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
CENTERVILLE — A Salt Lake man accused of breaking into a Centerville home, assaulting two elderly residents and setting the house on fire was released from the hospital Tuesday and booked into jail.
The same man was charged in 2012 with breaking into random homes in a Murray neighborhood while carrying a hatchet and assaulting residents.
Ammon Jacob Woodhead, 37, was booked in the Salt Lake County Jail on a Utah Board of Pardons and Parole warrant after spending five days hospitalized under guard by Adult Probation and Parole. He was also booked for investigation of attempted aggravated murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, burglary, vehicle burglary, assault on a police officer and possession of a controlled substance.
Woodhead is believed to have burglarized another home and two cars in a different area of Centerville prior to the July 21 home invasion and arson, according to Centerville police. Police said Woodhead was a complete stranger to the Centerville victims before that day.
The incident occurred at 329 E. 1825 North, in Centerville, when police were called to a report of a home invasion. Woodhead is accused of entering the house through an open garage door while carrying a can of gasoline and telling the residents that he had a knife and intended to set the house on fire with them inside, Centerville Police Lt. Allen Ackerson said.
Woodhead is also accused of striking Clarence Newman, 73, and his 68-year-old wife Bethany Schmucker, who later said that Woodhead demanded money before dumping the gasoline everywhere and assaulting them.
Centerville family recalls home invasion, arson attack
A living nightmare. That's how a Centerville couple describes the moments a man randomly burst into their home last Thursday, attacking them and then setting the home on fire.Schmucker said Tuesday that she called 911 while Woodhead attacked her husband, then said Woodhead attacked her, breaking her teeth, and lit the fire.
She also said that Woodhead punched her in the face with such force that her head hit a wall. She later learned she suffered a brain injury and an injury to her eye.
Injured and with their home on fire, the couple focused on getting Schmucker's 87-year-old father out of the basement, they said.
Centerville police helped evacuate the victims and arrested the intruder after a struggle inside the home. By the time all three got to safety, the family's home was engulfed in flames. Schmucker and Newman were taken to a hospital where they were treated and later released. The fire caused an estimated $1.2 million in damage.
This isn't Woodhead's first tangle with the law. In 2012, police say Woodhead, while carrying a hatchet, broke into a home on Vinecrest Circle, in Murray and attacked two of the residents inside, then tried to break into three other homes on the same street before ending up on the roof of a house where he was eventually arrested.
That incident began when Woodhead stole a vehicle out of Salt Lake City, Murray police detective Kenny Bass said at that time. The man ended up in the neighborhood near 6500 South and 1200 East.
Woodhead broke into a home, apparently at random, about 4:30 a.m. by kicking in the front door, Bass said. He then went into a bedroom where he allegedly attempted to use the blunt end of his hatchet to hit the ankles of a person sleeping in bed.
The person in the bedroom was not injured. As Woodhead was trying to leave the house, he was confronted by an adult male, whom he also attempted to attack, Bass said. Eventually, that man chased after Woodhead with a flashlight and a golf club, scaring him off.
He tried and failed to get into three different homes after that, then climbed onto the roof of a fourth house, where he apparently tried to enter the house by hacking off the swamp cooler.
The ensuing police standoff included Woodhead throwing the hatchet to the ground and holding a knife to his own throat. Police tried several ways to get him off the roof, including spraying him with a garden hose, shooting him with a beanbag gun, using a Taser and even carrying a K-9 onto the roof, but all were ineffective.
Eventually, police talked the soaking-wet and cold Woodhead into surrendering, Bass said.
He was later convicted of aggravated burglary, a second-degree felony, and criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor, as part of a plea deal. Woodhead was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison.
Utah state court records show Woodhead also has a history of drug- and theft-related charges.
In August, he was found guilty of misdemeanor unlawful detention and assault. In 2011, he was convicted of a couple of drug-related charges that were amended to misdemeanors. Also in 2011, a protective order was filed against him by his roommate, claiming cohabitant abuse. In 2010, he was convicted of misdemeanor theft.
It is unclear how long he spent in prison for the 2012 incident, though court records show he pleaded guilty to a felony count of weapon possession and a misdemeanor count of controlled substance possession in April 2016, for an incident that occurred in March 2016.
He also pleaded guilty in April 2017 to failure to stop at a police officer's command; in April 2018 he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance within a correctional facility; and in February 2020, Woodhead pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to stop at a police officer's command.
