This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Vernal man was hospitalized after his roommate allegedly stabbed him with blades attached to his hands like claws, similar to those wielded by the X-Men character Wolverine.
The victim, 20, had suffered multiple wounds when he arrived at a hospital on Aug. 8, Uintah County sheriff's deputies wrote in charges filed last week. He told police his roommate, 19, had locked him out of their apartment near 400 East and 600 South, but he was able to get back in. The victim said he was going back upstairs when he noticed his roommate "had on wolverine blades and a knife in his other hand," deputies wrote.
The roommate allegedly prepared to strike the victim, so the victim grabbed his arms, deputies wrote. The roommate then began "thrashing around" cutting the victim in the head and arm with the Wolverine blades and leaving a deep puncture wound in the victim's thigh, deputies wrote.
The two men tumbled down the stairs, deputies wrote. Other people in the apartment — including the accused attacker's mother — restrained the victim's roommate. The mother also suffered a cut to her left arm, which required stitches, deputies wrote. Investigators found blood around the house but noted that much of the blood appeared to have been cleaned up.
The roommate was not at the apartment that day, but officers found him there two days later, deputies wrote. He told investigators he remembered locking the victim out of the house but that he blacked out after that. He confirmed he owns replica Wolverine claws and that one of the blades was broken.
The roommate was charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury.