Accused of going after four transients with a machete under a bridge in Green River, Wyoming — and slicing open the ear of one of them — a California man could face up to 40 years in prison.
Jacob Daniel Rial, 34 of Garberville, California, was charged Monday with four counts of aggravated assault in Rock Springs Circuit Court.
Rial told police that the other four transients tried to rob and drown him, but they said Rial randomly grabbed the machete and attacked them, says an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
The Sweetwater County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a phone message request for comment.
Because It Was Raining
A Green River Police Department officer and sergeant were dispatched to the river bridge on the city’s north side at about 6 p.m. Saturday for an assault report, the affidavit says.
The sergeant discovered four people at the bridge, including two men with severe lacerations, one to his head and ear and the other on his neck.
A woman in the group said they were taking shelter from the rain together under the bridge when Rial joined them. As the five talked, Rial pulled out a machete and started swinging it at the others like a sword “for no reason,” she said, according to the affidavit.
The document says the others fought to get the machete away from Rial, resulting in the two men getting cut. They were bleeding heavily by the time police arrived.
One of the men had a severe laceration to the side of his head and his ear, the document says. The other had a less-severe laceration to his neck.
Rial grabbed his things, and his dog, and ran across the river, the affidavit says.
A Guy With A Machete Over There
The woman pointed out a man standing in the across the river, still holding a machete and officers approached, finding a man with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a black shirt and matching the suspect’s description. He was trying to duck down behind a small hill, the document says.
GPD Officer Zachary Fryer still could see the tip of what appeared to be a silver-edged weapon, reportedly.
Fryer ordered Rial to stand up and drop his weapon. Rial stood, but clung to the machete, wielding it in his right hand. After another order from Fryer, he dropped the weapon, the affidavit says.
Backpacks And Rivers
Rial told police he was hanging out under the bridge with the others to escape the rain when the others started talking about his backpack and wanted to take it.
He thought he was going to get jumped, so he went into the river to swim cross, where the others allegedly tried to drown him, he said, according to the affidavit.
So, Rial said he swung his machete at them. The document says Rial didn’t know if he hit anybody and didn’t remember who was trying to drown him.
“When Rial was sitting on the front bumper of Officer Fryer’s patrol vehicle, Fryer could hear Rial making comments saying he ‘did cut that mother***er,’ and that he hopes he did cut them because they attacked him,” the affidavit recounts.
Fryer noticed Rial, who wasn’t hurt, was fidgety and had bloodshot and watery eyes, reportedly. The man also reeked of alcohol.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
