He calmly strolled into the store, cash already in hand. But Baltimore City Police said the customer caught on surveillance camera is really a criminal.
The man violently beat and mugged a women in Upper Fells Point.
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"It's just senseless, it's stupid that this could happen to someone like her,” said the victim’s brother, Bob Hayden. “And unfortunately, she's not the only one, this happens all the time."
He said it happened around 1:30 a.m. Friday. Bob’s older sister Lauren Hayden was walking home from the bars in Fells Point with some friends, when she says a man came running up behind them and slammed into her.
ABC2 News spoke with Lauren Hayden over the phone.
"He hit my head into a car bumper, and he dragged me into the street and was just dragging me down the street while I was screaming," she said.
She doesn't remember much else about the brutal attack. But the man eventually snatched her purse and ran.
Hayden was seriously injured and taken to Shock Trauma.
"I have a fractured skull and some bleeding on the brain,” she said. “I had to have some emergency brain surgery."
She was in the ICU until Monday. She says her entire body is raw from the traumatic assault.
"As far as I know I’m expected to make a full recovery,” Hayden said. “I'm already doing much better, at first I was kind of switching out words and things, which I’ve gotten over and I’m more coherent."
Hayden's family is staying with her, working shifts to make sure she takes time to heal both physically and emotionally, no matter how long it takes.
"She has a black eye and then her whole side of her face is swollen, she has a nasty lump on her forehead,” her brother said. “And now she has 45 staples going in like a horseshoe to behind her ear."
They're also focused on getting justice, catching the man responsible, and getting him behind bars before he can hurt anyone else.
"Somebody knows him, he's somebody's son, he's somebody's neighbor, he's somebody's enemy,” said Baltimore Police Detective Donny Moses. “Give us a call, do the right thing."
If you know anything about the assault and robbery, please call Southeast District Detectives at 410-396-2422. Officers are also interested in seeing any surveillance footage from private cameras in the area.
Hayden's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses and bills while she recovers.
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