Local man charged as habitual criminal

A Moorcroft man who already faced charges of attempted murder and kidnapping has now also been charged with “habitual criminal”, a felony that could see him incarcerated for life.

Michael Hammond was arrested in April after allegedly beating a woman and then fleeing to Nebraska after she stabbed him in the neck in self-defense.

The charge of habitual criminal states that Hammond has been convicted of a violent felony and has also been convicted of a felony on two or more previous charges, separately brought and tried.

According to court documents, Hammond has previously been convicted a total of eight times, most of them in Laramie County.

His first conviction was in 2000, when he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit grand larceny. A year later, he was convicted on three counts of delivery of drugs.

In 2012, Hammond was found guilty of forgery in both Colorado and Laramie County, as well as obtaining property of a value greater than $1000 under false pretense.

In 2016, Hammond was convicted of felonious restraint, drug delivery and probation violation.

The charge of habitual criminal has been added as a fifth count on Hammond’s docket.

He was previously with felony counts of strangulation of a household member, aggravated assault and battery, kidnapping and attempted secondary murder.

On April 17 at around 7:30 p.m., an officer of Moorcroft Police Department was dispatched to a town residence in response to a domestic disturbance during which a male subject was stabbed with a knife.

On arrival, the officer observed the reporting party “moaning and obviously in intense pain”.

The woman, who claimed Michael Hammond had beaten her for an extended period of time, reportedly had an extremely swollen and bruised face and dry blood around her nostrils, as well as swelling and red marks around her neck and throat.

Hammond had allegedly left the scene and the officer reported a blood trail from the driveway to the front door, the inside of which was covered in blood. He also observed objects all over the floor and chairs knocked over in the dining room.

In the kitchen, there was allegedly a large pool of blood on the floor with multiple knives lying around, as well as clumps of torn hair on the counter and on the floor.

According to the victim’s statement, Hammond had held her over the sink and attempted to fill her mouth with water, suffocating her, so she turned around and stabbed him in the neck.

According to court reports, the victim said in a statement to DCI that Hammond had held her down on the floor, continuously kicked her in the stomach and crotch area, choked her around the neck and told her he was going to kill her.

Hammond is also alleged to have held her arms behind her back and slammed her face into the floors and walls, during which she was knocked unconscious for approximately ten minutes.

The victim stated that she was unsuccessful in defending herself as Hammond outweighs her.

The victim claimed to have attempted to flee the residence multiple times, but Hammond forced her back inside and continued to beat her.

The victim was transported to hospital, while dispatch was asked to advice surrounding hospitals to be on the lookout for a male subject with stab wounds. The Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was notified and advised they would assist with the investigation.

According to News Channel Nebraska, Hammond was brought to hospital in Kimball. Upon release, he was arrested by the Scottsbluff Police Department.