A Tacoma man is in critical condition after being attacked with a large chunk of asphalt in a case of mistaken identity.
The incident occurred about 7 a.m. Sunday outside a laundromat in the 8700 block of South Hosmer Street.
A passerby noticed the victim lying on the ground as a man stood above him, repeatedly throwing a big rock at his head.
When the passerby yelled, the suspect took off running.
Police responded and found the 42-year-old victim unconscious.
"His face was badly deformed and there was a large amount of blood emanating from his head," according to court documents.
It is unknown if the victim will survive.
Officers searched the area after the passerby provided the suspect's description and found him hiding nearby in some blackberry bushes.
When taken into custody, he yelled, "Yeah, I stomped him," according to charging papers.
He told police the victim committed crimes against his family, but when asked who had wronged his family, he did not give the victim's name.
The suspect allegedly admitted he didn't know what the man he was looking for looked like.
"Apparently, assuming the story to be true, the defendant went out looking for the person and came across (the victim), who looked like the person they described," prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
On Monday, the 39-year-old suspect pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder.
He was ordered held on $750,000 bail.
The suspect has six prior felony convictions, records say.
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