Man attacks couple with hatchet

GATES COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) - Sheriff's deputies seek a man who attacked a couple in their home with a hatchet early Saturday morning.

Gates County Sheriff Edward Webb said a man knocked on the couple's door in the 400 block of Hobbsville Road about 4:30 a.m. and asked to use the phone. The male homeowner let the man inside.

Once the suspect got into the kitchen, he asked the resident for money. The homeowner refused to hand over cash, and a fight broke out. During the fight, the suspect pulled out a hatchet and hit the homeowner in the back of the head. The homeowner's girlfriend tried to help, and the suspect hit her with the hatchet, too.

The suspect then fled on foot.

Medics took the residents to Albermarle Hospital where doctors treated and released them.

Webb said deputies seek a person of interest in the case. Anyone with information about the assault should call lead investigator Garrett Winslow at 252-357-0210.