$1 million bail set for man accused of assault with ‘machete-like’ weapon

Female victim treated at hospital, released

PORT ANGELES — Bail of $1 million was set Tuesday for a Port Angeles man accused of attacking a woman with a machete-like weapon Sunday, lacerating her skull and torso and sending her to the Olympic Medical Center emergency room.

A 72-hour Clallam County jail hold was placed Tuesday on Anthony Robert Cousins, 37, pending potential filing of charges at 3 p.m. Thursday in Superior Court.

The woman, whose age was unavailable Tuesday, was discharged shortly after she was admitted to OMC, said Brian King, Sheriff’s office chief criminal deputy.

Cousins remained in the jail late Tuesday afternoon for investigation of first-degree assault and first-degree burglary.

King said Cousins is an acquaintance of the victim.

Cousins illegally entered the woman’s North Lees Creek Road residence east of Port Angeles at about 1:13 p.m. Sunday, according to the probable cause statement.

Wielding “a metal machete-like object,” Cousins struck her twice, once in the back of the head, causing a laceration that reached her skull, and once to her back, causing a superficial laceration from the side to the middle of her back, according to the statement.

The woman’s mother was applying pressure to her daughter’s head when a deputy arrived, according to a probable cause statement.

Port Angeles Police Officers arrested Cousins at 11 p.m. Monday at an AM/PM convenience store in Port Angeles.

Cousins admitted to assaulting a woman in the Lee’s Creek area Sunday and said he had smoked methamphetamine Sunday morning, according to probable cause and arrest reports.

A male who was present during the assault chased Cousins but was unable to catch him, according to the probable cause statement.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.