Alaska State Troopers arrested a McGrath man after witnesses say he attacked a visitor outside his home with a machete on New Year’s day.
According to charging documents, 29-year-old John Lindeman Jr. invited several individuals to his home following the McGrath fireworks to attend a bonfire in his yard, which lasted for several hours.
Two of those individuals, Tyler Goods and Quinn Lane, approached the house around 4 a.m., believing other partygoers had gone inside.
Lane and Goods told responding troopers that, as they walked up the steps leading to the house, Lindeman appeared saying his kids were in there and he didn’t want anyone inside.
“According to Lane, only a matter of seconds had passed from the time he and Tyler Goods were walking up the steps until the time John Lindeman got out the machete,” Trooper Brett Gibbens said in his affidavit. “Lane caught the machete with his left hand, which was sliced several inches long. Lindeman swung several more times with the machete, striking Lane on the forearm as he blocked the blows.”
Following the initial attack, Lindeman verbally threatened both men while holding the blade of the machete against Lane’s throat, leaving a small cut.
Lindeman confessed to troopers that he had been drinking prior to the incident, according to charging documents.
Lane was treated at the McGrath Health Center and released.
Lindeman was arrested Jan. 2 after troopers concluded their investigation, and was jailed on one count of second-degree assault.