A Roswell man says he is still fearful after a stranger punched and attacked him for no apparent reason.
Joe Franklin told Channel 2 Action News he was walking to a nearby restaurant on Holcomb Bridge Road when a man violently attacked him Jan. 25.
“This guy just approached me and grabbed me, and the next thing I know I was running for my life,” Franklin told Channel 2.
Roswell police found Franklin bleeding from the head near a Bank of America on Market Boulevard shortly after 9 p.m., according to a police report.
Police spokeswoman Officer Lisa Holland said 33-year-old Lonnie Smith was in the area acting irrationally about an hour before he allegedly attacked Franklin.
Holland told Channel 2 that Smith was angry Franklin didn’t return a greeting as he walked by.
Franklin said Smith looked at him and asked, “Who do you think you are?” Franklin, 58, said Smith then threw him to the ground.
“The suspect pretended like he was going to help him back up, but instead slammed his head into the curb,” Holland told Channel 2.
Franklin said he needed six staples in his head after Smith cracked his skull.
Sabrina Smith told Channel 2 that her brother has schizophrenia and was off his medication the day of the alleged attack. She said she found him talking to himself at his apartment earlier in the day.
“When my brother is on his medication, he’s nothing but a huge teddy bear,” Sabrina Smith said. “He lives a very productive life.”
Smith faces aggravated assault charges in connection with the attack. He was released from the Fulton County jail after paying a bond.
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