Two men broke into a Mattoon Street apartment around 5:30 a.m. Monday and assaulted a man with a hammer, police said.
SPRINGFIELD -- Police responded to a hammer attack at 16 Mattoon St. around 5:30 a.m. Monday.
The assault victim claimed two black men kicked in a back window to his apartment, "jumped him," then one man beat him over the head with a hammer, according to police reports.
The victim, a middle-aged black man, was treated at the scene by personnel from a Baystate Health Ambulance, who wrapped a large white bandage around the man's bloodied head. Ambulance personnel were prepared to take him to the hospital, but he declined to go, according to Springfield Police Lt. James Rosso.
The injured man was seen outside his apartment wearing the bloodied bandage while talking to uniformed officers. A plainclothes detective arrived on scene minutes later.
A 5:41 a.m. BOLO (be on the lookout) was issued for the assailants, described by a police dispatcher as tall black men who were last seen walking on Pearl Street. Rosso said no arrests had been made as of 7:30 a.m.
"We're not sure what exactly happened," the lieutenant said, adding that the victim claimed he did not know his attackers.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call the Springfield Police Department Detective Bureau at (413) 787-6355 or to send a text message to CRIMES (or 274637), beginning the message with the word SOLVE.