Suspect captured after machete attack on 60-year-old Rancho Cordova cyclist, official says
Officials say 42-year-old James Hall was considered danger to public and officers
Officials say 42-year-old James Hall was considered danger to public and officers
Officials say 42-year-old James Hall was considered danger to public and officers
A man suspected of attacking a 60-year-old electric bicyclist with a machete in Rancho Cordova on Monday has been apprehended, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The victim, who has not yet been named, was "gravely" wounded in the assault and officials said his injuries are "not survivable."
The suspected attacker, 42-year-old James Hall, who is unhoused, was found at Shasta Community Park following a manhunt, spokesperson Rod Grassmann said. Hall had taken public transportation to Cosumnes River College in Sacramento then went to the nearby park.
He was cooperative during the arrest and has been booked at the Sacramento County Main Jail on one count of attempted homicide, Grassmann said. The motive for what officials called an ambushed assault is still unknown.
Hall is believed to have hit the man in the head with a machete on Monday around 6:15 p.m. near Zinfandel Drive and Italia Way, Grassmann said. He was considered a risk to the public and to law enforcement officers.
While Grassmann would not go into details as to how detectives were able to name Hall as the suspected attacker, he did say that deputies have the machete used in the attack, along with “quite a trove” of evidence found at the Cordova Lane Center preschool. Hall is believed to have left the evidence at the nearby preschool the night of the attack.
Watch the full briefing by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office below
“We are tracking you and we will get you,” Grassmann said on Tuesday night. We will arrest you and bring you to justice.”
Hall is an unhoused individual known to frequent the Rancho Cordova and Sacramento areas.
The sheriff’s office provided a 2016 booking photo of James Hall, but his criminal history is not known.
Grassmann said the 60-year-old victim had just retired from working for the state and had lived in Rancho Cordova all his life. He was riding his electric bicycle and had not noticed the man believed to be Hall approaching him.
After the man was struck by the machete, Grassmann said he managed to continue riding for about 400 feet before falling to the ground. A passerby spotted the man and assumed he was the victim of a hit-and-run crash.
Sacramento Metro Fire Department personnel who responded soon realized the man was not the victim of a crash and notified Rancho Cordova police. The man was transported to a hospital and is not expected to survive.
On Tuesday morning, the preschool went on a 20-minute lockdown while detectives collected “several articles” of evidence. It is not known if the machete was found at the preschool.
Detectives were at the crime scene all night and into much of Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office on Monday night also got a call at 8:18 p.m. from a person concerned that their family member had not yet returned home after going on a bike ride. Detectives were able to connect that missing person report with the attack.
City of Rancho Cordova responds to the attack
The city of Rancho Cordova said in a statement on Wednesday that officials' thoughts are with the victim's family and friends.
"The suspect in this case, James Hall, is one of an estimated 10,000 homeless individuals living in the Sacramento region, and on November 28, he was in our city," the statement said. "Unfortunately, heinous crimes occur all too often, in every community across our great nation, and homelessness has become a crisis at the national, state and local level. When tragedy strikes, community members are concerned—for themselves, their families, their friends and neighbors—and ask: What is being done?"
The statement went on to say that the city council has recently approved more money for a Homeless Outreach Team that will net $2.2 million in total funding.
The city also gets support from a Mobile Crisis Support team in partnership with Sacramento County, and has two other public safety teams in the field. The city also cited investments in affordable housing projects.
"We have built a safe and welcoming community, but no community is safe from an individual’s choice to commit a crime," the statement said. "While this isolated incident is not reflective of the overall safety of our community, it does mean extra vigilance and a redoubling of efforts on all fronts."
The city said it planned to hold community conversations in the future.