OGDEN — An Ogden man has been charged with chasing his neighbors with a machete, the latest in a string of run-ins they say they've had with the man.
Taggart Anderton, 67, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; stalking with two or more prior convictions, a second-degree felony; and trespassing, a class B misdemeanor.
Ogden police were called to the man's home on Saturday by neighbors, who reported Anderton had chased them with the machete. They said he was outside their home in the 1900 South block of 1275 East, swinging the object, and he "had chased them with the machete through their yard from the parking lot to their door," according to charging documents. None reported being struck.
Video of the two victims shows Anderton "pacing through the backyard and the wooded area behind the victims' home with the machete in his hand," the charges state, adding that a subsequent search of Taggart's home yielded a machete with a 14- to 16-inch blade.
Taggart has been involved with "multiple incidents" involving his neighbors, according to a police booking affidavit. "Taggart is suffering from an obvious mental condition and luckily did not kill anyone today."
He's being held without bail with his initial court appearance set for Tuesday.
Taggart pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of stalking on Oct. 29 as part of a plea deal stemming from a Sept. 5 confrontation he had with neighbors around his Ogden home. He is to be sentenced in that case on Dec. 17.
In 2009, Taggart was found guilty in 8th District Court in Vernal of kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and attempted forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony, stemming from a March 19, 2009, incident, according to court records.
