CARLSBAD, Calif. (KGTV) - A 58-year-old carpenter is recovering from a near amputation after a road rage incident involving a machete in a Carlsbad parking lot.
Police arrested 22-year-old Austin Walters of Fallbrook in connection with the attack. Walters was booked on several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday.
Eddie Perkins said the nightmare unfolded two weeks ago during the lunch hour. He had just completed a three-month deck installation and headed to a shopping plaza off Roosevelt Street for lunch.
Perkins says he parked his truck near Prontos Gourmet Market. When he finished his meal, he noticed a car maneuvering in the parking stall next to his truck.
"They had their mirrors tucked in, really tight, and yelling obscenities at me, like, ‘You’re stupid, dumb.’ I shrugged it off," Perkins said.
Perkins said the car, driven by a woman with a man in his 20s in the passenger seat, moved to another spot. As Perkins tried to exit the lot, he got turned around and had to pass the car again.
"As I’m passing them, they are throwing things at my truck, yelling more obscenities," Perkins said.
Perkins got out of his truck to see what was thrown. He approached the car window to talk.
"I got out to see what he, what they were throwing at my truck. At one point, I saw a full Gatorade bottle. I was talking to him at the window. I wasn’t angry, just wanted to say this isn't serious. That's when he punched me really solid in the lip, blood flowing," Perkins said. "I’m gushing blood. We scuffle a little bit. I noticed he had a machete in one hand. I told him, ‘I’m going to let you go, and I’m going to walk away and leave,’”
Perkins tried to walk back to his truck. Perkins says the man then got out of his car with a machete and a knife, and punctured one of his tires with the knife. Perkins pushed the man away.
“I punched, pushed him away. He swings the machete overhead, and I blocked it, and it cut through my wrist. It was really gushing blood. I thought it was going to die," Perkins said.
The attacker stopped, and Perkins was rushed to a hospital. Doctors told him amputation was a possibility.
"He had sliced through three bones, two main arteries, all the tendons and ligaments. It was hanging by just my thumb muscle," Perkins said.
Following a long and delicate surgery, Perkins' hand was saved. It remains unclear how much range of motion he will recover.
"My hand is still there. I can move my thumb, but the rest of is numb," Perkins said. "I couldn’t believe something so petty and small would change my life forever.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Perkins, who does not have health insurance, with his medical and other expenses.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
