East Hampton man charged in machete attack, cops say

An East Hampton man was arrested in a machete attack Monday night that left the victim seriously injured, police said.

East Hampton Town police responded at 8:12 p.m. to "reports of two men fighting in the roadway" on Clinton Street in East Hampton, police said in a news release.

Responding officers determined that Jose Maria Jimenez, 26, "had been assaulted with a machete and had suffered several serious wounds to his torso," police said.

Jimenez was initially taken to Southampton Hospital and later transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he underwent surgery. His condition Tuesday was not immediately known.

Attacker Jose Javier Garces Hernandez, 24, had fled the scene to a house on the 400 block of Springs Fireplace Road, where he asked for help from acquaintances, Capt. Chris Anderson said.

Jimenez and Garces Hernandez are acquaintances also, said Anderson, who declined to say how the two knew each other.

Garces Hernandez, of 91 Rutland Dr., was airlifted to Stony Brook for head trauma from the fight but has been released, Anderson said.

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He was charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He is expected to be arraigned Wednesday in East Hampton Town Justice Court.

The machete was found at the scene, Anderson said.

Anyone with information about the attack is urged to confidentially call police at (631) 537-7575.