Cops: Riverhead man charged in hammer attack on homeless man

A Riverhead man faces an assault charge, accused of attacking a homeless man with a hammer last week, Riverhead police said Monday.

At his arraignment Sunday, Efrain A. Amaya, 22, charged with second-degree assault, was remanded to Suffolk County jail on $25,000 bail, police said.

Amaya was arrested Saturday, said police, who in a Monday news release did not provide a motive for the assault.

Police were tipped off to the attack early Thursday by emergency room staff at Peconic Bay Medical Center after a 27-year-old man being treated there said he was injured in a physical assault, police said.

The man said that an acquaintance hit him with a hammer in the 500 block of Roanoke Avenue, Riverhead, police said.