Man takes hammer to trooper, vehicles after I-95 wreck

Dunn, N.C. — A man attacked a state trooper and emergency vehicles with a claw hammer after a wreck on Interstate 95 shortly before midnight Saturday, troopers said.

Another driver rear-ended a car driven by Romeo Ribeiro, of New York State, on I-95 at the Dunn exit. Ribeiro got out of his car and attempted to leave the scene on foot, troopers said.

When EMS and the first trooper arrived, Ribeiro attacked an EMS vehicle and the trooper's car with a claw hammer, then turned on the trooper, investigators said. The trooper was able to subdue Ribeiro and was not injured.

Ribeiro was charged with assaulting a government official, hit-and-run and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. He was being held in the Harnett County Jail under a $3,000 bond Sunday.