WEST VALLEY CITY — An argument while singing karaoke at a party escalated into a violent knife and hammer attack, police say.
Anh Hoang Ly, 52, of Salt Lake City, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury, a second-degree felony; two counts of threatening to use a weapon in a fight, a class A misdemeanor; public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, an infraction.
A man was attending a party Saturday near 4100 West and 4100 South when he and Ly got into an argument that "arose during karaoke and drinking," according to charging documents. Ly challenged both the man and his girlfriend to "go outside to fight, but both victims declined."
Moments later, however, Ly approached the man again and struck him in the head with a hammer and then cut the woman on her hand when she tried to help, the charges allege. The man told police he suffered "a hammer injury to the back of his head and knife-related lacerations to his stomach and leg."
"(Ly) initiated a violent assault inside a residence by striking the victim in the head with a hammer and then producing a knife and attacking both victims, causing multiple injuries," the charges state. "He escalated a verbal argument into a deadly-weapon assault, striking one victim in the head with a hammer and slashing both victims with a knife. During the assault, (Ly) made statements indicating an intent to kill the victim."
