Hammer time: Cops nail accused assailant in Walmart parking lot attack

A November hammer attack in the Maricopa Walmart parking lot, in which the accused assailant escaped, led to an arrest four months later.

An InMaricopa public records request found that police on March 11 arrested Maricopa resident Richard Wilhelm, charging him with aggravated assault. The victim, who reported the attack Nov. 16, 2023, was struck with the hammer below his eye and has recovered from the injury.

It could have been worse. Witnesses near the attack said they saw an “agitated” hooded man carrying a machete along with the hammer. After the attack, the hooded man ran toward a white “cross-over” vehicle and drove it into the Glennwilde neighborhood via Stonegate Road.

Wilhelm was apprehended when Maricopa police were notified through the Flock alert that a license plate belonging to a vehicle owned by his girlfriend, Marina Gonzales, was spotted by a camera at the intersection of John Wayne Parkway and West Honeycutt Road.

An officer’s report stated that investigators had established probable cause to make the arrest a week ago.

Police investigators explained why it took so long to apprehend and arrest Wilhelm in the case stemming from an incident.

“The suspect in this case was not identified initially and the case was sent to detectives for follow up,” police spokesperson Monica Williams said. “Once the suspect was identified and probable cause for his arrest was established, our officers located him, and the arrest was made.”

After the Flock alert, police reported that an officer following Gonzales’ Chevrolet Trax pulled her over on Porter Road for speeding 11 mph over the 45 mph speed limit. She pulled into the parking lot at Legacy Traditional School. The reporting officer stated he then identified her passenger as Wilhelm through the tattoo on the left side of Wilhelm’s neck. The officer asked Wilhelm to get out of the vehicle and Wilhelm complied. He was taken into custody at Pinal County jail.

Gonzales was given a warning for the traffic infraction and allowed to leave the scene.

An investigator, in a follow-up police interview with the victim, reported that the victim was a former roommate of Wilhelm’s. He said Wilhelm was kicked out of the house by another roommate who had allowed Wilhelm to stay there. The victim told police Wilhelm was a disabled veteran and “suffers from PTSD and split-personality disorder.”

He said it was Wilhelm’s behavior that led him to be kicked out of the house. The victim also told police he had no previous issues with Wilhelm and had had no contact with him since he left the house about a year ago.

The victim and a woman were loading groceries into a car when the attack took place, police said.