Deputies: Chain saw-wielding man attacked estranged wife's date

He was committing mischief, not a massacre, but deputies said Timothy Ray Brooks used a chain saw to break into a hotel room and assault a man Tuesday morning.

The victim was on a date with the suspect's wife, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

Brooks, 49, of 13187 Montour St. in Brooksville, was charged with three counts of criminal mischief, armed burglary and battery.

Deputy Cari Smith responded shortly after midnight to the Best Western at 9773 Cortez Blvd. near Ridge Manor following a 911 call about a disturbance, she wrote in her report.

The clerk at the hotel told her a man carrying a chain saw arrived at the hotel a short time earlier looking for his wife, Smith stated.

Smith's arrest report also revealed the following:

The clerk declined to give Brooks any information about a guest and left the room. Afterward, the clerk heard loud banging coming from outside. He ran into the parking lot and noticed the window in his rear passenger-side door had been smashed.

Witnesses saw Brooks break the window of another vehicle in the parking lot with his fist.

Brooks ran upstairs and shattered the window to one of the hotel rooms using the chain saw and barged inside.

The chain saw was not running.

After he broke the window, he confronted his wife, Teresa Brooks, and her date, Eyad Alaghawani.

Timothy Brooks grabbed Alaghawani and punched him three times in the face and head.

Brooks fled after Alaghawani grabbed a phone and called the sheriff's office.

Alaghawani went outside and noticed the driver's side window to his car had been smashed.

He later told deputies he knew Brooks' wife only for a few days and had never previously met the suspect.

Alaghawani did not sustain any visible injuries and declined medical treatment.

The suspect's estranged wife said she was on a date with Alaghawani and the two decided to spend the night in a hotel room. The two heard bangs at the door and seconds later, Brooks broke into the room through the window.

Brooks' wife said she did not know how her husband found her at the hotel, but guessed he had been driving around looking for her.

A hotel manager will pull the video footage of the incident from surveillance cameras and submit it to the sheriff's office for evidence, deputies said.

Smith later arrested Brooks at his home.

She asked whether he had any injuries, at which time he told her his finger was hurting, according to the report.

Smith said she asked him why his finger was hurting and he told her, "from the window or his head."

Afterward, Brooks requested an attorney, according to the sheriff's office.

Smith said she noticed the chain saw was lying on the ground close to Brooks' vehicle. It was taken into evidence.

Brooks was booked at the Hernando County Jail. His total bond was set at $26,500.