A violent assault inside an Atlantic City casino sent a disabled vet to the hospital and sent the alleged attacker to jail after he reportedly tried to rob another person.
The victim was heading up to his room at Trump Plaza when he was viciously attacked in an elevator, Atlantic City Police said.
The suspect was nabbed just hours later at another casino, where police say he tried to steal from someone else.
Before he was caught by police Thursday afternoon, 22-year-old Hosameldin Ismail was caught on camera at Trump Plaza allegedly beating and robbing a disabled a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran, police said.
“It was very violent,” said Police Capt. Frank Brennan. “The victim attempted to defend himself but he was just overwhelmed.”
Ismail allegedly attacked Steven McGuire inside an elevator soon after 3 a.m. Thursday after following the victim from the casino floor, investigators said.
“As the elevator door shut, the suspect violently throws the victim against the wall of the elevator, striking his head, knocking him unconscious,” Brennen said.
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Earlier in the night, Ismail was reportedly harassing the victim -- who’s from Brooklyn, N.Y. and walks with a cane, authorities said.
“As the elevator door shut, the suspect violently throws the victim against the wall of the elevator, striking his head, knocking him unconscious,” Brennen said.
Ismail, who’s also from Brooklyn, allegedly rifled through the victims pockets, but the beating wasn’t over, authorities said.
“As the victim regains consciousness, (Ismail) gets up and violently steps on his head, rendering him unconscious again,” Brennen said.
When the elevator door opened, Ismail fled with about $7,000 in cash and gaming chips he allegedly stole from the victim, cops said.
Surveillance photos were sent to casinos throughout the resort. Then, around 1 p.m. the same guy tried to commit another crime, according to authorities. This time he didn’t get away.
“We received a call earlier today at Tropicana about an attempted robbery… we found that our suspect in this case was our suspect from last night,” Brennan said.
Ismail faces robbery and aggravated assault charges. His bail was set at $100,000.
The victim was initially released from the hospital and returned to Trump Plaza, but he collapsed and was taken back to the hospital.
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