Florida police searching for man accused of beating up homeless people

COCOA, Fla. - The Wawa on 520 in Cocoa is just down the street from the Cocoa Police Department.

Police are actually investigating a case of violence that happened there, specifically an assault on a group of homeless men.

Someone actually recorded the beating from Tuesday night and then shared it on Facebook. Cocoa Police Officer Yvonne Martinez said that in the video, "you see that he is already on the ground, not fighting back, not able to fight back, and the suspect continues to attack him." Between throwing punches and kicks, the suspect goes running between his first victim and his second victim. The homeless men seem too weak to defend themselves.

Rosa Reich with Catholic Charities of Central Florida and Miriam Moore of the Brevard's Homeless Coalition said that incidents like this show how at risk the homeless are to be targets of hate. They want to emphasize that being homeless is a condition.

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"They are just like anyone of us, they’re just having a rough time and they deserve to be treated with dignity," Reich said. "Being homeless could happen to you, it could be your neighbor, it could be a friend... it’s somebody’s brother or sister mother or father and we’ve got to remember that, they all need help."

The victims were treated at the hospital and released.

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect. He is said to be a white male and possibly in his 30s. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hat, blue shirt, and light-colored shorts. If you know who the people are in this video, contact the Cocoa Police Department. 

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"We don’t have a lot of information or details right now that we can say with any certainty what the motivation was," Martinez said.

To help the homeless in Brevard County visit the Brevard County Homeless Coalition website and Brevardhomelesscoalition.org and the Catholic Charities of Central Florida website.

Tune in to FOX 35 News for the latest in Brevard County and more.

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