Man Charged with Ax Attacks in Lake Forest

Man Charged with Ax Attacks in Lake Forest
A file photo of Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies in Yorba Linda, Calif., on Oct. 4, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
City News Service
5/24/2023
Updated:
5/24/2023
0:00

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—A 32-year-old man was charged May 24 with attacking two men with a pick axe in Lake Forest this week.

Tyler Scott Graves, 32, was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies, as well as three counts of brandishing a weapon and single counts of resisting arrest and hit-and-run with property damage, all misdemeanors.

Graves crashed a car into a house in the 22000 block of Robin Street late Monday morning, according to Sgt. Michael Woodroof of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies were dispatched to the crash scene at 11:54 a.m. Monday.

Graves allegedly ran from the crash about 100 yards away to where he was living in the 22000 block of Pheasant Street, where he found the axe and chased a gardener around before storming upstairs into the house and slamming the weapon against the door of a roommate until he smashed his way in, Woodroof said.

The roommate managed to convince Graves to hand over the axe, but the defendant got it back just as deputies were arriving, Woodroof said.

Deputies ordered Graves to drop the axe, but he refused, prompting deputies to use shotgun bean-bag rounds and a taser to subdue him, according to Woodroof.

Graves was taken to a hospital to be treated for a wound from the crash and was later booked, Woodroof said. Before he began residing in the Pheasant Street home, Graves was living in Trabuco Canyon, the sergeant added.

No injuries were reported in the alleged attacks.

Graves has two prior felony strikes that could factor into increasing his punishment if he is convicted, according to court records.

Graves pleaded guilty in October 2014 to three counts of robbery and a count of burglary, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of possession of burglary tools, loitering on private property, receiving stolen property, shoplifting, and petty theft. He also pleaded guilty at that time in a separate case to a felony count of burglary.