The victim knows he's fortunate to have survived the attack, but he also believes it all could have been prevented if sheriff's deputies would have done their job more thoroughly.
With his head covered in stitches, Craig Johnson will never forget the terrifying scene he encountered Saturday morning.
"I was turning around to walk in the room and they bum rushed me," he recalled. "I got hit with a hammer. They kept hitting me."
What makes Johnson even angrier than the attack is the way he says the sheriff's department handled his case.
"They showed a lack of professionalism to me," he claimed.
It was around 11:30am when deputies responded to Johnson's home on a report of a break-in. Once inside, deputies did search the bottom floor, and with guns drawn, found no one. But it's what happened next that angers Johnson and his family.
Craig's wife Vivian Johnson said, "All they had to do was just check the house. That's all they had to do."
The sheriff's office confirmed that deputies never searched the top floor. That's because Johnson's 18-year-old stepdaughter had searched it herself and reported nothing was missing. They why they say they ended up taking a report and then leaving.
A few minutes later, Johnson was suddenly attacked by two hammer wielding suspects who were apparently still hiding out on the second floor of the home, unbeknownst to anyone in the house.
"They were saying to send Life Flight, because I was losing too much blood," Johnson said.
No one from the sheriff's office was available to talk to us on camera, but a spokesperson tells us deputies had no reason to doubt the stepdaughter's account. Johnson's family, however, wonders why the deputies put so much stock in the report of a teenager, when their job is to protect.
"I think they should have policed the area up there," Johnson said. "I fee like if they had done that, I wouldn't be in the pain I'm in now. And I'm definitely in pain."
Johnson says he plans to file a complaint with the sheriff's office. Deputies are still searching for the two suspects. When last seen they were dressed all in black and wearing ski masks. Authorities do have a description of the getaway vehicle. It's a blue Grand Prix.
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