Mother recounts chainsaw attack

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Police say Crystal Sanchez and her two children were attacked by a man, waving around a chainsaw.

"Just the scream that night was the scream that I don't think any mother would want to hear," said Sanchez.

Saturday night, Sanchez says she walked outside her home near Pennsylvania and Copper Northeast to see what was going on. She heard a motor revving and cries from her kids.

Police say for some reason, 30-year-old Christopher Gutierrez started chasing the kids with a chainsaw. When the mom walked outside to investigate, she thought it was some kind of sick joke, but it was serious.

"He turned around and came at me and I was like 'oh my goodness'," said Sanchez.

Sanchez says she was chased her around a parked car three times, while the man was just an arms length away from cutting her.

That's when a neighbor heard her screams, grabbed a baseball bat, and came outside to chase the suspect off.

Police say they arrested Gutierrez in his truck, smelling of alcohol. Also inside were two Stihl brand chainsaws.

Sanchez has no idea why she was targeted.

Investigators do not know why Gutierrez may have done this. He told police it was not him and it was his cousin, but police do not believe that.

Gutierrez, who was on parole, is jailed without bond for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse. He has a history of assault.

Police say he may have terrorized others with his chainsaw that night in the same neighborhood. They think he cuts wood for a living.