The suspect in the attack on a woman and her 12-year-old son earlier this week in Fort Lauderdale has been arrested, authorities said.
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Police identified the suspect as Hutch Benjamin, 44, who is charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Surveillance video captured the moment when a mother and her son were attacked in Fort Lauderdale by a stranger who’s still wanted in the assault.
According to Fort Lauderdale Police, on Tuesday, at around 7:30 a.m., the mother and her 12-year-old son were walking in the 1000 block of Northwest 5th Avenue.
Surveillance video shows the suspect walking up to the two and then appears to hit them with a blunt object.
The suspect then fled the area. He was seen wearing a red shirt and shorts.
Police said that the 12-year-old had an abrasion to his face, and his mother had a laceration to the back of her head.
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They were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and have since been released.
Before the arrest, NBC6 spoke with the mother, who said she had just moved into the neighborhood the previous Friday.
“I just want this guy to get caught,” Chrissy said. ‘You can’t attack a child, especially a kid who’s 12 years old and a woman, and get away with it.”
Chrissy didn’t reveal her last name, but said her son has autism, is non-verbal, and the man who attacked them was a stranger who suddenly took a swing at her son with a cane or a bat.
“After that, I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ and I pushed him away, and he tried to go back for him, and that’s when I got hit on my side,” she said.
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Chrissy said the attack was random.