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Philadelphia man held in brutal beating with brick on Boardwalk


  • Crime-Courts

A Philadelphia man accused of brutally beating a woman with a brick as she walked along the Atlantic City Boardwalk will stay in jail.

Samuel Cooper, 43, is accused of tying a brick into a T-shirt on Jan. 6, and then striking the woman, who fell to the ground. He allegedly continued to beat her even after she lost consciousness.

Cooper did not know the 67-year-woman, who also is from Philadelphia, according to the charges.

In fact, his attorney said Tuesday that Cooper did not recall the incident at all, citing mental health issues.

Cooper is schizophrenic, attorney Alex Settle told the judge. He is putting in for a competency hearing.

Until then, Cooper will remain jailed under Judge Patricia Wild's ruling.

The attack was captured on surveillance video, which was seen by BreakingAC.

It shows the woman walking as a man passes her in the other direction, and immediately turns around to get behind her.

He then strikes her, appearing to hop as he makes the first blow. The woman then falls on the ground as the man continues to hit her.

Another man stands nearby watching, when suddenly someone runs into the camera's view. That seems to cause the attacker to stop and walk away from the victim. A woman also runs into the screen's view.

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The attacker slowly walks around but does not appear to try to flee. The victim remains on the ground.

The woman was hospitalized. Neither her name nor current condition have been released.

Cooper was already on pretrial release for pending disorderly person charges when he was arrested. There is a pending motion to revoke that release, but regardless he will remain jailed under the judge's Tuesday ruling.

author

Lynda Cohen

BreakingAC founder who previously worked in newspapers for more than two decades. She is an NJPA award-winner and was a Stories of Atlantic City fellow.

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