DELAND, Fla. – A 22-year-old was arrested Thursday following the December robbery and brutal beating of a DeLand man with disabilities outside a barbershop, according to police.
DeLand police said Malik Sanchez is one of two men who attacked a 43-year-old man on Dec. 13 in front of First Class Barber Shop on East New York Avenue.
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The victim called police about 40 minutes after the attack, saying two men beat him up and stole his cash and car keys, authorities said.
DeLand police said surveillance video from a nearby business shows a man in a white T-Shirt punching the victim several times. A second assailant approached the victim and rummaged through the man’s pockets, police said.
The victim, who suffered a broken nose and two black eyes, was admitted to AdventHealth DeLand and later released, police said.
Police said after the robbery they received multiple tips helping them to identify Sanchez and Damian Crafton, 29, as the attackers. Sanchez was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated abuse of a disabled adult and robbery with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the Volusia County Jail on $42,500 bail.
Crafton remains at large and detectives believe he may be in Texas. Police said they believe Crafton was the man in the video who punched the victim in the head with brass knuckles.
When Sanchez was arrested he had a semi-automatic pistol on his person, along with two other firearms a ski mask.
Anyone with information on Crafton’s whereabouts is asked to contact DeLand police at 386-626-7422.