MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — A man is facing charges after police said he attacked two people with a rubber mallet just days after he scared another couple while armed with a knife.
Tony Hannah Jr. was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree assault after police said he injured two acquaintances in a Saturday night mallet attack.
Captain Matthew Delia with the Maryland Heights Police Department said Hannah attacked the man and woman in the laundry room of the Camden Trace Apartment Complex on Spanish Trace Drive. He said Hannah hit the victims in the head and face with the mallet, leaving them with serious injuries. Those injuries are not life-threatening, police said.
Police arrested Hannah at a gas station on Old St. Charles Rock Road Tuesday. He was charged later the same day.
Delia said this was not the first run-in they had with Hannah this month. He said on July 11, they were called to a different apartment complex after a man jumped out of a bush and started yelling at a couple.
The couple told police they were walking on the parking lot of the Westport Edge Apartments on Bonanza Drive when Hannah jumped out of a bush holding a machete-type knife. The couple ran off and was not injured, and Hannah ran away as well.
Police found him and took him to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Delia said the hospital could have held Hannah for up to 96 hours. He did not say what the result of the evaluation was.
Hannah, a 34-year-old St. Louis resident, is being held on a $100,000, cash-only bond.
Anita Martinez, a Maryland Heights resident, said she's glad Hannah is behind bars, but she's still being careful when she's outside this summer. She hopes others will as well.
"They need to be careful and stuff and make sure that they keep their doors locked, cars locked, windows locked and when you come outside make sure you kind of look around," she said. "If you see anybody strange maybe call the police."