Police: Elderly man beaten in Winter Park over social distancing request

WINTER PARK, Fla. - Winter Park Police say a 70-year-old man was beaten after he asked another man to social distance.

In surveillance video obtained by FOX 35 News, the suspect looks to be dragging the victim out of the store by his hair.  

Police say the violence erupted after the victim asked Rovester Ingram to step away from him because he wasn’t wearing a mask.  

“Both of them are regular customers,” said Mohamed Tutul, who works at the Citgo gas station on Orange Avenue where the incident happened Tuesday.  

MORE NEWS: Florida man arrested in 1984 rape, murder of 14-year-old girl

Tutul says the two men started arguing at the counter.  

“He mad. He tells me, ‘I come in here every day. Why are you telling me 6 feet,’” he recalled the suspect saying.

Investigators say the victim walked out of the store and Ingram followed. Then, as the 70-year-old heads back in, Ingram begins punching and kicking him.

Tutul says he called the police.

Police say the beating went from inside the store and then back outside. Police say, “The victim was on his stomach as Ingram repeatedly punched him on his back, then spat on him and kicked him in the head before walking away.” 

MORE NEWS: 2 Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shot in apparent ambush in patrol car

The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, including broken bones. 

Officers say they recognized Ingram from the surveillance video and arrested him at his home.  

Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.