The Bankers Hill, San Diego man whose life was threatened and car chopped by a machete-wielding attacker spoke exclusively to NBC 7 San Diego, describing the sheer terror he experienced that night.
After 11 years in the Navy, Avery Marble has some war stories to tell — but this violent attack is particularly difficult for him to explain.
He says he stopped at a friend's house on Brant Street Sunday night when a stranger walked out of a house holding a machete, and approached him while making threats using racial slurs.
“The N-word has no power anymore," Marble said. "People use it everyday, everywhere, for every person, place or thing, but when he said it, I guess he was trying to offend me.”
But Marble was more concerned with dodging the machete than with the insults hurled his way.
“He really was trying to get me. He swung. I heard the wind go by,” Marble said.
Marble said he ducked in the car with his pit bull, Shimsee, and called for help. The call scared off the attacker, he said.
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The man flattened the car's left rear tire and smashed the rear window, leaving an impression of a large blade in the shattered glass.
Responding San Diego Police Officers searched the house, but did not find the suspect.
Marble said he had no warning, no way to defend himself and no idea why or who was trying to kill him with a 2-foot long machete.
“If I had a reason, I would feel better," Marble said. "Maybe if I cussed at him one day I would feel better, but there's absolutely no reason whatsoever."
Marble said he has seen the man in the neighborhood before, but not knowing why he was attacked weighs much heavier on him then his fear of seeing the suspect again. SDPD investigators say they know the suspect's name, but he has not yet been arrested.
“A person like that should not be on the street, they shouldn't be walking around,” Marble said.
Marble is on a disabled veteran’s pension. Though the attacker may still be on the loose, Marble says he knows life must still go on. Replacing his split tire is just the beginning.
