Enraged from a fight over drugs, a pack of young men forced their way into a Mountain View apartment and attacked another man who hadn't been involved in the earlier fracas, beating him with boards and dumbbells before holding a katana sword to his neck and threatening to cut his head off, according to Anchorage police.

Nicholas Richards, 20, Spencer Ballenger, 19, and a 17-year-old were arrested on charges of first-degree assault and robbery in connection with the attack early Wednesday, according to court records. Police say they were the main players, though others may have been involved.

A woman in the 3200 block of Tarwater Avenue called police at about 2:15 a.m. to report a man had come to her door "covered in blood," police said.

"This kid was beaten worse than any beating I've seen in recent years. He was ripped apart," police spokesman Dave Parker said. "It was such a vicious, heartless attack."

The victim, Jared Sukert, 20, told police he woke up during a fight over marijuana between his roommate, Rondale Toms, and the 17-year-old, according to documents filed in court.

When questioned, the juvenile told police he went to the apartment to buy marijuana from Toms, who then allegedly hit him in the head with a hammer. He told police he fought with Toms until he was able to break free and escape and that he later returned with his friends to get revenge, the documents say.

But Toms was already gone, having left to get medical treatment for his injuries, Sukert said. Sukert was the only one left.

"They knocked on the door. I opened it thinking it was my buddy," Sukert said in an interview Thursday. "They asked if he was there; I said, 'No, he's at the hospital.' And then they came in the door and pushed me and started punching me."

The men had apparently arrived empty-handed, but inside the home found the sword, dumbbell, metal bar and wooden board that they used to pummel Sukert, who has bipolar disorder, said his mother, Billie Cubley.

"The more my son tried to explain to them that he's got a mental health disability, the worse and more ferocious they became," Cubley said. "They picked up things from around the house. My son had a collector's katana sword, and they beat him with the sheath while they held the sword to the back of his neck while they had him in execution position -- on his hands and knees."

They threatened to behead him if he told anyone of the assault, Parker said. They then took Sukert's cell phone, tore the phone out of the wall and told him to tell Toms they would be back to kill him, according to court documents.

Sukert, who police said apparently had no part in the initial altercation, got nearly 30 staples in the back of his head, a broken nose, cuts on his face and head, a black eye, a sprained ankle, a broken left wrist and the middle finger on his right hand is smashed, Cubley said. He got out of the hospital early Wednesday.

"These kids had absolutely no mercy and they had no rhyme or reason for going after my son," Cubley said. "These are street punks and they need to be off the streets."

The 17-year-old was booked into McLaughlin Youth Center; Richards and Ballenger were at the Anchorage jail with bail set at $25,000 cash.