Arrest made in attack on Fla. homeless man

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., have arrested a teenage boy for allegedly attacking an area homeless man twice within seven hours over the weekend.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported the 17-year-old is the key suspect in Saturday's two attacks on John Palmer, a 52-year-old homeless man, and police have charged the teen with two counts of aggravated battery.

Palmer was attacked early Saturday morning by someone with a pair of metal sheers and approximately seven hours later, he was ambushed again by an individual with a metal pipe.

Witnesses of the second attack called police and responding officers chased and apprehended the unidentified teen, who already had four prior arrests for various crimes including battery, officials said.

Palmer, who has four adult daughters, remains in stable condition at an area hospital and the attack has one of his children questioning why it occurred.

"He's the type of person, instead of him bothering other people, he'll sleep on the street," Patricia Palmer told the newspaper.