Axe-Wielding Rampage Lands Suspect in Hospital

Ilya Yegudkin, 25, remains in the hospital after he went on an axe-wielding rampage Saturday afternoon at Paradise Campground in Los Padres National Forest. Yegudkin, a Los Angeles resident on a camping trip in the Santa Barbara backcountry, was apparently “under the influence of a controlled substance” when he reportedly threw an axe at one of his friends, said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover.

Armed with two axes, Yegudkin had also cut up his tent, vandalized a car, and attacked several campers — among them his friends and an elderly man who was sitting in his truck — said Hoover in a Sheriff’s Office press release. Described as “extremely combative,” Yegudkin tried to fight a Santa Barbara County firefighter who arrived at the campground located off Paradise Road and Highway 154.

Yegudkin fought responding Sheriff’s deputies, one of whom suffered a “facial laceration,” which Hoover said wasn’t caused by the axe. The deputy was treated and released from the hospital. The friend who was hurt by the suspect declined medical treatment; the senior man didn’t receive medical treatment. Deputies “eventually subdue[d]” and arrested Yegudkin using “several less lethal measures of force,” said Hoover in the press release.

Injured during the struggle with authorities, Yegudkin was admitted at the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. On Saturday, he was booked “in absentia” into County Jail on four felony charges: assault with a deadly weapon, battery causing serious injury, elder abuse, and resisting arrest. According to Hoover, he posted $50,000 bail on Sunday afternoon. The case will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office.

Officials from California State Parks, County Fire, Santa Barbara County Air Support, AMR, and CHP helped Sheriff’s deputies through the incident, added Hoover.