Fishhook man assaults family with gun

FISHHOOK — A man brutally attacked his wife using a rifle as a club, and was only stopped when other family members restrained him, authorities said.

Alaska State Troopers responded to a residence along CL Hawes Road to a reported domestic disturbance about midnight March 3, according to an affidavit written by Alaska State Trooper LeRoy DeVeaux. Family members had called troopers to say they were restraining Nathaniel Heath Wilds, following an attack on members of the household, according to the affidavit.

Wilds and his wife were engaged in a heated argument sometime earlier that night, according to the affidavit. Prior to the alleged assault, Wilds left the house, according to the affidavit.

Concerned about impending violence, family members hid all the ammunition in the house, according to the affidavit. When Wilds returned, he and his wife continued to argue, and Wilds retrieved a .30-caliber bolt-action rifle from their bedroom, according to the affidavit.

Wilds’ wife “ran downstairs to the kitchen, where (Wilds) cornered her and began striking her with the rifle, using two-handed overhead swings,” DeVeaux wrote.”When this was occurring, (the wife) raised her left arm up in defense and was struck in the forearm with the rifle. (The wife's) left forearm had an open wound approximately one inch square, which was deep enough to see the bones of her forearm.”

Other family members heard noise from she scuffle and rushed to respond, according to the affidavit. Wilds’ adult stepson attempted to intervene, and when Wilds attacked him instead, he ran to the house’s living room, where he was knocked to the ground. Another stepson heard the commotion from outside, and came running inside, according to DeVeaux’s affidavit. Together, the two stepsons and the wife were able to overwhelm Wilds and pin him to the floor, according to the affidavit.

Troopers found the rifle family members said Wilds had used, according to the affidavit. The rifle’s wooden stock was cracked and splintered in two places, DeVeaux wrote. A laptop valued at $500 was also damaged in the fray, according to the affidavit.

Troopers arrested Wilds on two counts each of second-degree assault and third degree assault and a single count of criminal mischief, and placed him in Mat-Su Pretrial on $1,000 cash or corporate bond that morning, according to courts and corrections documents. Wilds had posted bond by the following day, and faced a March 17 out-of-custody arraignment.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.