SALISBURY — An encounter with an ex quickly turned violent for one man who was hospitalized after reportedly being struck in the head with a hammer.

According to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy responded to Atrium Health Northeast in Concord to take a report for an alleged assault that happened on Furniture Drive in Salisbury.

While there, the deputy spoke with a woman identified as the male victim’s girlfriend. She told the deputy that they were hanging out around 7:30 p.m. in Salisbury when they decided to drive down Furniture Drive and parked near the solar panel farm.

That is where the couple was when two vehicles approached.

According to reports, the female victim told the deputies that she recognized her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend in one of the vehicles. Three additional male occupants, described as the ex’s sons, were in the vehicle.

The sons reportedly approached the victim’s vehicle and began to hit it with pipes and hammers. In doing so, they reportedly busted out the windows and slashed the tires of the vehicles.

At that time, the victim, 29, and his girlfriend exited their vehicle in an attempt to confront the assailants. During that confrontation, the girlfriend was also assaulted.

As the victims returned to their vehicle, one of the male assailants allegedly struck the victim in the head with a hammer. At that point, the girlfriend reportedly pleaded with the ex-girlfriend, asking, “How could you let them do this?”

Following her pleas, the assault reportedly ended.

Although the female victim reportedly had no outward signs of injury, the boyfriend had visible head wounds and a broken arm.

Despite the injuries, the male victim seemed to be in a rational and coherent state of mind. Deputies did observe a head wound around four inches in length.

The incident remains under investigation.