Prosecutors have dropped charges against a man who had been suspected in a baseball bat attack on a 72-year-old man, officials said, and instead another man has been charged in the incident.
On Sept. 15, the victim was waiting at a bus stop in the 3800 block of Bladensburg Road when a man approached him, pulled out a knife and demanded the victim’s wallet, police said. The attacker walked away when the man refused to hand over his wallet, but he returned a short time later with an aluminum baseball bat and started attacking the victim with it.
A passerby yelled for the suspect to stop, and he ran away. The victim suffered severe injuries.
On Sept. 21, Justin Charles Strong, 22, was taken into custody after he was identified by the victim, police said. He faced charges including attempted first-degree murder.
But later in September, the charges against Strong were dropped and 20-year-old Edwin Gonzalez was arrested for the attack, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman John Erzen said. Gonzalez has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and other charges.
Erzen said that a man who was picked up in an unrelated incident alerted authorities to the fact that they had charged the wrong man in the baseball bat attack. The informer led police to three other people, one of whom identified Gonzalez. Police spoke with Gonzalez, and based on their conversation and other evidence, they released Strong and charged Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is being held without bond.
