Man in jail, accused of beating 5 people with closet rod - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Man in jail, accused of beating 5 people with closet rod

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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man is in jail after he allegedly attacked several people with a closet rod Wednesday.

Christopher Lakoda Michael Sandvig, 19, is charged with five felony counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. If convicted on all counts, he could spend up to 75 years in prison.

Idaho Falls Police officers were called around 6 p.m. to an apartment on the 1800 block of East 16th Street for a report of a man beating people with a stick. When officers arrived at the apartment, five people walked out with various injuries. The injuries reportedly came from Sandvig beating them with the rod, according to court documents.

As officers entered the apartment, they found Sandvig in the back room using “some sort of instrument” to cut his arm. He was detained and taken outside to paramedics who bandaged his arm. He was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for treatment before being taken to the Bonneville County Jail, according to court documents.

It remains unclear how or if Sandvig knew the individuals who were attacked that evening. He told officers he was going to have sex with his girlfriend when people who worked at the apartment came bursting into his room. He says he didn’t remember what happened after his “schizophrenia had kicked in,” according to court documents.

He told officers he became angry, began trashing his room and then used the closet rod to beat everyone inside the apartment.

“After he came out of his schizophrenia, he realized what he had done and was sorry for it,” the officer noted.

Paramedics told officers that all the individuals who were injured took a personal vehicle to the hospital.

Sandvig remains held at the Bonneville County Jail on $1,500 bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 22.

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