Machete used to decide which man would live in Puyallup homeless camp

Both men wanted to live in a homeless camp alongside the Puyallup River, but that didn’t sit well with one of them.

So he decided to settle the matter with a machete, police said.

The victim had made his home in the 2800 block of River Road East before he was arrested and spent a few months in the Pierce County Jail.

When he was released and returned to the encampment, a 55-year-old man had moved in and apparently didn’t want any company.

About midnight Friday, the newly returned man awoke to a scream and came out of his tent to investigate.

“The victim, dressed only in pants, jumped out of his tent and the defendant chopped the victim in the forearm with a machete,” according to court records.

The wounded man fled to a nearby casino after the other man allegedly continued to swing the machete at him.

A police officer patrolling the casino helped the injured man get to a hospital, where he was treated for a six-inch cut that exposed the bone.

Puyallup tribal officers went to the camp and ordered the machete-armed man to come out of his tent. He refused. Officers then sprayed the inside of the tent with pepper spray and the man surrendered.

Pierce County prosecutors have charged him with first-degree assault, obstructing a public servant and second-degree criminal trespassing.

The man pleaded not guilty and was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Machete used to decide which man would live in Puyallup homeless camp."