PG man sentenced for threatening to smash woman & cat with hammer

A Pacific Grove man has been sentenced to prison, after threatening to smash his roommate with a hammer, and threatened to strangle their cat.

46-year-old Aaron Peter Thomas was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for felony domestic violence.

Officials say on December 7, 2017, Jane Doe arrived home to find Thomas highly intoxicated and sitting on the couch with a hammer. He was annoyed at their upstairs neighbors for being too loud, and told Doe he felt like “murdering them.”

When Doe tried to calm him down, Thomas stepped on her feet and threatened to “smash” her. He then threatened to strangle and kill their cat if it came out from under the bed. Doe, terrified, tried to leave, but Thomas took her phone, shoved her down on their bed, forbid her from leaving, and then began swinging the hammer around her head as he continued to threaten to “smash her” with it.

He then shattered the bathroom mirror and toilet with the hammer. When Doe tried calling 911 with a second phone, Thomas grabbed that from her hands as well. The neighbors called 911 and Doe later told the officers that she believed Thomas would have beaten her with the hammer and was in fear for her life.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Robert A. Burlison sentenced Thomas, and also issued a criminal protective order, prohibiting Thomas from contacting Doe for the next ten years.