American Fork man severely injured in hammer attack, ex’s new boyfriend arrested
Jun 26, 2026, 4:00 PM
A man was arrested for investigation of attempted murder on Friday for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend with a hammer. (Adobe Stock)
(Adobe Stock)
AMERICAN FORK — An 18-year-old American Fork man accused of attacking another man with a hammer has been arrested.
Kayden Paul Gauger was booked into the Utah County Jail early Friday for investigation of attempted murder, drug possession and use of drug paraphernalia.
The investigation began about 8:35 p.m. Wednesday when police were called to a possible assault. The victim was gone by the time officers arrived, but a witness told police that a man got out of a car and approached an SUV and “then smash out the driver side rear window of the SUV, then approach the driver side front window and began striking the occupant of the SUV with a hammer,” according to a police booking affidavit.
A short time later, American Fork police were called by emergency room workers at a local hospital who reported a 23-year-old man who had allegedly been attacked with a hammer had just arrived, the affidavit states.
“The victim told officers he was struck in the head multiple times with a hammer,” according to the affidavit. “Officers observed his injuries to be significant. The victim had blood dripping from the right side of his face. The victim’s right eye was bruised and swollen shut. Officers heard the victim’s doctor say that the victim had several broken bones in his face, which would require surgery.”
The man told investigators that he grabbed the hammer while defending himself and then pulled the hammer away from the assailant by driving off. Officers located the man’s SUV in the hospital parking lot and found a hammer with blood on it, the affidavit states.
Police later learned that the victim had agreed to sell marijuana to an ex-girlfriend at the location where the assault occurred, according to the affidavit. Detectives also found threatening text messages on the victim’s phone from the ex-girlfriend’s phone after the drug deal such as “U lucky that’s all I did. U gon lose yo life if I see u ever again omm.”
“The ex-girlfriend was interviewed by detectives. Post-Miranda, the ex-girlfriend told detectives she was present during the assault. The ex-girlfriend stated she witnessed Kayden, her current boyfriend, approach the victim and strike him with a hammer multiple times,” the affidavit states.
Officers held surveillance on Gauger on Thursday, followed him and then arrested him without incident when his car came to a stop in a parking lot.
