Two men fresh out of jail are accused of attacking a man with a hatchet in northern Clark County and are being sought on charges of attempted murder.
The attack victim believes he was targeted because he implicated one of the assailants in a crime, prosecutors said.
Clark County prosecutors on Tuesday filed warrants for the arrests of Mathew M. Michaelson, 28, and Andre D. Kennedy, 35, on charges of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree burglary. Another charge of intimidating a witness was filed against Michaelson.
The men have no known addresses, according to court documents. They both were recently released from the Clark County Jail: Michaelson on Nov. 24 and Kennedy on Oct. 1.
The alleged assault occurred in the early morning of Dec. 14 at the victim’s trailer in the 2500 block Northeast 199th Street, north of the Pleasant Valley area. Gary Mathis told Clark County sheriff’s deputies that after hearing a scuffle at the door, he opened it to the men. The assailants allegedly dragged him outside and began hitting him in the head with a hatchet.
They continued to beat him after he fell to the ground, Mathis later recounted to investigators.
“Mathis explained that the men were wearing dark clothing, gloves and masks, but he still recognized them,” Deputy Prosecutor Alan Harvey wrote in the affidavit for the men’s arrest. “He eventually yelled that he knew who they were.” They then fled.
Authorities responded, rushing Mathis to a local hospital for treatment of a concussion and lacerations. He has since been released and is recovering, Harvey said Tuesday afternoon.
Mathis told investigators that he believed the men were out to get him because he’s a witness in a criminal case against Michaelson. Michaelson is out on bail pending charges of second-degree assault and attempting to elude officers in a case earlier this year, according to the affidavit.
Mathis went on to explain that he knew Kennedy only by the moniker “Country,” and that Kennedy is closely associated with Michaelson.
Detectives also uncovered a taped jail telephone conversation on Oct. 16 in which Michaelson called Mathis a “rat.”
“Michaelson was heard telling someone to ‘put the word out’ that ‘Gary Mathis’ is trying to rat me out,'” Harvey wrote in the affidavit.
There was no mention in court documents as to the specifics of the previous case involving Michaelson and Mathis.
Deputy prosecutor Harvey filed an aggravating factor to the attempted murder charge, alleging the crime was committed shortly after the men were released from incarceration. That could boost the sentence to a maximum of life in prison, Harvey said.
The burglary charges were filed because of the allegations of forcible entry into the trailer.
Laura McVicker: 735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
