OREM, Utah - Authorities are asking the public's help identifying a suspect accused of attacking a man with a machete in what is believed to be a road rage assault in Orem, and Wednesday the victim of that attack spoke to FOX 13 News about the assault.
Officers said the incident started just before 8:30 a.m. on December 9 near Geneva Elementary School, near 700 West 400 North.
Orem Police said the victim claimed the driver of a white passenger car boxed him in, got out of his car and kicked the victim's car door.
Officers said the victim drove off and went to his home near 500 North and 1000 West and the suspect followed him.
When the victim approached the man, the suspect hit him with a machete, causing a large, deep gash on the side of the victim's face.
"He grabs the machete and pulls it out and swung at me," said Jason Harper, the alleged victim in the attack. "...It hit me right here in the face, but I ducked. Luckily I ducked a little bit, and he caught me on the side of the cheek."
Lt. Craig Martinez with the Orem Police Department said that if the blade had struck Harper elsewhere, things could have been much worse.
"If he would have hit him a couple of inches lower maybe in the neck, we would be having a different conversation right now," Martinez said.
The suspect is described as a heavy-set white male believed to be between 45 and 50 years old. He was driving a late 90s or early 2000s model year Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. Anyone who recognizes the suspect or the vehicle is asked to call Orem PD.
