YORK, Pa. — Update, 8 p.m.: Michael Small, 55, was taken into custody on Tuesday, June 27 by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Unit, the York County Drug Task Force and the York City Police Department.
According to police, on June 26 at 3:15 a.m., officers were called to the 800 block of East Boundary Avenue for a victim who had been assaulted with a deadly weapon.
As a result, the victim was rushed to a York hospital with life-threatening injuries where she still remains in critical condition.
Small was arrested and has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence and various theft charges.
Previously: A York man is facing numerous charges after police say he attacked a woman with a hatchet early Monday morning.
Michael Leroy Small, 55, of the 400 block of Salem Avenue, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, two counts of theft, and tampering with evidence in connection to the alleged attack, which occurred shortly after 3 a.m. Monday in the area of Dallas Street and East Boundary Avenue.
The victim suffered numerous lacerations in the alleged attack, and is in critical but stable condition at York Hospital, according to York City Police.
Small is also accused of stealing the victim's cell phone and car after the attack ended, police claim.
Police say the victim's boyfriend reported that she left her home shortly after receiving a phone call from an unknown person at about 3 a.m. Monday. She reportedly told him she was meeting someone who owed her money.
Investigators obtained surveillance video from the area where the alleged attack took place, and were able to see the victim drive up to meet an unknown suspect, later identified as Small, on the 700 block of Dallas Street, police said.
After briefly speaking to the suspect, the victim follows him to the rear of a nearby building, out of view of the surveillance camera, police said.
Moments later, she is seen running back into the camera's range, pursued by the suspect, who was carrying a hatchet, police claim. After pushing the victim to the ground, the man is seen striking her several times in the face and head with the hatchet, according to police.
He later chased the victim to a nearby parked vehicle and attacked again, striking her several more times with the hatchet, police said.
The suspect is then seen on camera taking the victim's cell phone, which was dropped during the attack, and leaving the scene in her vehicle, according to police.
The attack lasted about two and a half minutes, police said.
Investigators used the victim's phone records to determine who called her at 3 a.m., shortly before she left home.
Those phone records led them to identify Small as the suspect in the attack, police said. Investigators then obtained a photo of Small and determined he matched the physical appearance of the man seen attacking the victim in the surveillance footage.
Small had not yet been taken into custody as of Tuesday morning, according to court records.
