SUNDANCE (WNE) — A Moorcroft man faces charges of attempted murder and kidnapping after allegedly beating a woman and then fleeing to Nebraska after she stabbed him in the neck in self-defense. 

On April 17 at around 7:30 p.m., an officer of Moorcroft Police Department was dispatched to a residence in response to a domestic disturbance during which a male subject was stabbed with a knife. 

On arrival, the officer observed the reporting party “moaning and obviously in intense pain.” 

The woman, who claimed Michael Hammond had beaten her for an extended period of time, reportedly had an extremely swollen and bruised face and dry blood around her nostrils, as well as swelling and red marks around her neck and throat. The alleged victim stated that her husband had left the scene. 

According to the victim’s statement, Hammond had held her over the sink and attempted to fill her mouth with water, suffocating her so that she could not breathe, so she turned around and stabbed him in the neck. 

The victim was transported to the hospital.

According to court reports, the victim said in a statement to DCI that Hammond had held her down on the floor, continuously kicked her in the stomach and crotch area, choked her and told her he was going to kill her. The victim claimed to have attempted to flee the residence multiple times, but Hammond forced her back inside and continued to beat her. 

Hammond was arrested by the Scottsbluff Police Department upon his release from the Kimball hospital. He has been charged with felony counts of strangulation of a household member, aggravated assault and battery, kidnapping and attempted secondary murder.