Vermont: Abukar Ibrahim Arrested For Machete Attack On 73yo Female Meals On Wheels Volunteer

URLINGTON — A man who allegedly used a machete to attack a 73-year-old Meals on Wheels volunteer pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge.

Appearing in Chittenden Superior Court via video Monday, Abukar Ibrahim, 32, watched as his attorney entered not guilty pleas on Ibrahim’s behalf to charges of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful mischief and violating conditions of release.

Judge David Fenster ordered Ibrahim to undergo a sanity and competency evaluation and to be held without bail at the Northwest State Correctional Facility. Ibrahim will next appear in court in early February. The court also granted him an interpreter who speaks Maay Maay, a language used mostly in Somalia; however, no interpreter was evident in the courtroom Monday.

Shelburne police responded Friday to calls of a man breaking car windows at the Harbor Place motel. Police said they found the Meals on Wheels volunteer with severe leg wounds and Ibrahim barricaded in a room, taunting police. It took officers more than two hours to get Ibrahim to come out, according to authorities.

The volunteer was treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center and released.

Ibrahim started staying at Harbor Place only recently, said Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for the Champlain Housing Trust, which owns and runs the property. The trust bought the motel in 2013 and uses it for emergency housing.

...“These are people who are receiving a public benefit, and so there really has to be a cause to deny them that public benefit, otherwise it’s discriminatory,” he said. “Where do you draw the line for what pops up on the background check?”