Attempted Murder With Hammer At Middletown Auto Body Shop: Police
MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A man attacked another man with a hammer at an auto body shop Friday afternoon in Middletown, and is charged with attempted murder.
This happened Friday at Crown Tire at 330 Rt. 36 in the Port Monmouth section. Middletown Police responded there for a 911 call of an assault with a hammer.
When they got there, they found the victim, a 64-year-old man from Edison, with significant injuries to his head. The suspect, Michael Gonzales, 36, of Philadelphia, had been detained by witnesses at the scene and was promptly taken into custody by police.
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The Asbury Park Press and other news outlets report that the victim is known to drive around New Jersey in an RV covered with pro-Donald Trump stickers and Make America Great Again messages.
It is unclear if politics were related to the attack. However, the victim and his attacker did know each other, said Middletown Police. Other media reports say the suspect, Gonzalez, is dating the victim’s daughter.
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Police say Gonzales struck the victim in the head multiple times with a hand-held sledgehammer. During the course of that attack, the suspect also pushed a woman, causing her to fall and sustain injuries as well.
Police are not identifying either victim at this time.
The woman was taken by ambulance to Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, but the man’s injuries were so serious he had to be rushed by medivac helicopter to Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Gonzalez is being charged with one count of Attempted Murder, one count of Aggravated Assault, as well as Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purposes.
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