A Chelsea man allegedly attacking another man with a machete in an Augusta gravel pit earlier this year.
Elias Rodriguez, 25, was indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury on April 18 on charges of elevated aggravated assault and aggravated assault, according to the Kennebec Journal.
Rodriguez and a 19-year-old got into a fight at an Augusta Taco Bell on Jan. 26, and the pair arranged to meet and fight at a gravel pit off West River Road, the Journal reported.
The 19-year-old and a 22-year-old man met at that gravel pit about 6 p.m. on Feb. 10, and when Rodriguez arrived, the 22-year-old fled but slipped on ice and fell into the snow. Rodriguez allegedly ran toward him and swung an 18-inch rusty machete at the victim, according to the Journal.
The 22-year-old told police he blocked the first swing with his arm, and if he hadn’t, Rodriguez would have struck him in the head, the newspaper reported.
Rodriguez allegedly tried to hit him several more times, missing. The man then kicked Rodriguez in the chest and managed to get away, according to the Journal.
Emergency room staff later told police that the man’s blood pressure fell so low because of the machete wound that he could have died, according to the newspaper.
