Woman, teen charged in hatchet attack on Iowa man

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman and a Nebraska teenager have been charged in connection with a hatchet attack on a man in a Sioux City apartment building earlier this month.

Sioux City police said the attack was carried out on Dec. 18 to retaliate against the apartment’s occupant because that man had previously kicked the 52-year-old woman out of the apartment. The Sioux City Journal reports that Mary Blair was arrested Saturday on several charges, including burglary and assault. The teen was arrested on similar charges Monday.

Court documents say Blair let the 16-year-old into the locked apartment building and then knocked on the door of the victim’s apartment before stepping aside to let the teen enter.

Prosecutors say the 61-year-old victim suffered a broken shoulder and had to have a chest tube inserted because of blood in his lung after he was struck several times with a hatchet. He also had to have surgery, but he has since been released from the hospital.

Blair told police that the teen was mad that she had been kicked out of the apartment, and she called the teen her protector.

Blair was being held Monday in lieu of $60,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

The teen was being held Monday in the Woodbury County Juvenile Detention Center.