MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man is sharing his side of the story, weeks after video shows him being brutally attacked on the streets of Miami Beach.
Speaking to 7News on Friday, Mouhamed Leigh said he was beaten and then robbed on Oct. 26 by a man wearing a pink hoodie and pants on Ninth Street, just east of Collins Avenue.
He recounted what happened to 7News as he continues recovering from the attack.
“I’ve been going through a lot of pain, sleepless nights. I haven’t had a restful night since the incident happened,” said Leigh.
He said he had recently moved to Miami from Georgia and was showing his friend around South Beach when he decided to leave home.
While he was walking to his Uber pickup spot, a man, whom he said he had never met, came up to him and went on the attack.
“I didn’t see the punch coming. I did not expect it at all,” said Leigh.
The brutal attack was caught on camera. Video shows Leigh standing on the sidewalk when the man punches him out of nowhere.
“It kind of knocked me out because I fell to the ground, and that’s when he repeatedly started kicking and stomping on my face and brutally just giving me a beatdown,” said Leigh.
An arrest report states the stranger “forcefully took a black crossbody bag from the victim as well as the victim’s iPhone.”
Leigh says the vicious punches, kicks, and stomps left him with a serious jaw injury.
“My mouth was gushing blood, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t move my jaw,” he said.
Paramedics responded to the scene and immediately put him inside their ambulance. But before going to the hospital, Miami Beach Police took him a few blocks over to positively ID the person who had attacked.
Detectives found the accused man, identified as 25-year-old Cornelius Wedner, a Georgia native, blocks away at 12th and Washington.
Once Leigh ID’d him, police made their arrest.
“To this day, I could not tell you why this happened to me,” said Leigh.
Weeks after the attack, Leigh tells 7News it still takes a toll on him.
“Kind of traumatized. Starting to find it hard to trust anyone outside that I bump into,” he said.
After Wedner’s arrest, he appeared in front of a Miami-Dade judge to face multiple charges, including two felonies. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer found probable cause to move the case forward.
“OK, so there’s probable cause for aggravated battery, strong-armed robbery, and resisting an officer,” said Glazer.
Now, Leigh hopes the justice system backs him up.
“I just want justice to be served and for him to be prosecuted accordingly,” he said.
The victim said he is on the mend from the attack.
As for Welder, his case is still moving through the court system.
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