Police arrested a man Friday in the assault of a part-time George Washington University professor, who was severely beaten and left for dead just north of Dupont Circle last weekend.
James Brown, 38, of southeast D.C., is charged with aggravated assault.
Jason Chambers, 39, of southwest D.C., was wearing a costume and had just left a Halloween event at a bar when he was brutally attacked at the intersection of Florida and Connecticut avenues in Northwest about 4:15 a.m. Sunday.
Law enforcement officials told News4's Pat Collins that Chambers was seen on nearby surveillance video walking in one direction, then going back where he came from, as though he had forgotten something or had seen someone he knew.
He disappeared from the frame, but not long after that, the video showed a man dragging Chambers -- who was wearing a potato costume -- out of the street and onto the sidewalk. He was beaten and kicked on the ground, sources said.
A passerby who saw the incident called 911, police said.
Chambers was found "nearly motionless ... [and] unable to communicate." He was hospitalized with critical injuries.
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Sources told Collins that Brown is a deliveryman who was working at the time. Information from witnesses and statements made by Brown led to his arrest, Collins reported.
Chambers works in GW's Department of Exercise Science.
"It's horrible," said one GW student. "It's hard out here in D.C.... I got mugged here a few weeks ago, actually."
Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of GW's School of Public Health, said in a statement Thursday, "I, along with the academic community at the School of Public Health and Health Services, send our well wishes to Jason."
