The teen accused of punching a senior citizen in the face in the Eastern Market Metro station earlier this year entered a guilty plea Thursday morning.
Elijah Smith, 19, got into an argument with Albert Langeberg, 69, in April. Langeberg says Smith shoved him as they exited an Orange Line train.
"He came from the seat across from behind me and pushed me out the door and said, 'Get out of the way, old man,' and that's when I told him that he was a disgrace to the human race," Langeberg said in an interview with News4. "He said, 'Do you want to take this outside?' I said, 'Sure.'"
Langeberg said he intended, instead, to get a station manager, but moments later on the escalator, Smith spit in his face and punched him in the face three times, knocking him down, Langeberg said.
The attack was captured on surveillance video.
Smith pleaded guilty to assault with significant injury. He will be sentenced on Oct. 22.
Police say this isn’t Smith’s first brush with the law. He is currently on probation for robbing a Silver Spring actor after a May 2014 performance. The attack left the actor in the hospital.
