Man, 34, Beaten With Ax Handle Police Know No Motive For Motel Room Attack

Four men forced their way into a Coeur d’Alene motel room over the weekend and beat a 34-year-old man with their fists and an ax handle, sending him to the hospital.

The intruders punched Michael McClement more than a dozen times before slamming the fiberglass ax handle they found in the room into his right knee, according to a Coeur d’Alene police report.

One of them told McClement, “The next time I come back, I’ll have a gun,” according to the report. All four then fled the motel room, taking the ax handle with them.

McClement was treated at Kootenai Medical Center for injuries to his right leg, left arm and head. His roommate, 20-year-old William Fink, was not injured.

Police still are searching for a motive for the beating, Capt. Carl Bergh said.

The attack began at about 4:45 a.m. Saturday with a knock at the door to the room McClement and Fink, both construction workers, had rented at the Star Motel. The men told Fink they were looking for McClement as they forced their way past him and into the room.

Fink was ordered to sit down and keep quiet while the men surrounded the bed McClement was asleep in. Moments later, they began slugging McClement in the face when he was unable to tell them where “Wayne” was, according to the report.

Fink described two of the attackers as in their late 30s or early 40s. One had dark hair, a full beard and a mustache, stood about 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 180 pounds. He was wearing a black baseball cap and jean jacket.

The second man had dirty blond hair in a ponytail and was wearing an Army-style fatigue jacket and pants.

, DataTimes