DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – An arrest has been made in connection with an attack outside a bar that left a 22-year-old man blind and with diminished mental capacity.
The Daytona Beach Police Department announced the arrest Friday in the Jan. 26 assault at Coyote Ugly.
Daniel Duany, 28, is accused of punching Derrick Tibado at the Daytona Beach bar and was arrested June 15, according to police.
The blow caused permanent physical and mental impairments, according to the victim's family. He requires 24-hour care because of his injuries, which included brain damage, vision loss and memory loss, police said.
In March, Daytona Beach police released the video surveillance of the incident in an attempt to identity the suspect.
The video showed Duany punch Tibado in the head at least once. The force of the punch sent Tibado onto the ground, according to authorities. The assailant left in a dark-colored car.
A bystander who witnessed the attack called 911 about 20 minutes later when Derrick Tibado still hadn't regained consciousness.
"He's breathing. He's kind of, like, snoring but he's not waking up," the man said.
In April, an anonymous tipster contacted the police department, leading them to Duany. A witness who was there when Tibado was assaulted also positively identified him when shown a photo, according to the arrest report.
Daytona Beach police Chief Craig Capri spoke to reporters Thursday about the arrest and the state of the victim. He attributed the arrest to good police work and following leads.
“Anytime you can get closure in a case, especially for a victim who has been beaten this bad, it’s a good thing, “Capri said. “It doesn’t change the fact that this victim is going to struggle, probably for the rest of his life with issues from this one incident, but at least we got the suspect in custody and he can’t do this to somebody else.”
The victim's mother, Deanne Tibado, told News 6 in March that her son is now blind and suffers from permanent memory loss, diminished mental capacity and physical problems as a result of the assault.
"I'm grateful to the witness that came forward because clearly, (that) man -- if you want to call him a man-- wasn't going to turn himself in and had shown no remorse," the victim's mother said.
Months later Deanne Tibado said her son won't ever fully recover.
"The chances of him recovering ... he won't," she said. "I told Derrick that they made an arrest but before we got off the phone, he couldn't even remember."
Duany is charged with aggravated battery causing harm or disability. He’s also wanted in Kentucky on a warrant for drug trafficking charges, according to Capri.
Duany is currently in the Volusia County Jail, where he is being held without bail. Capri said he will eventually be extradited to Kentucky to face those drug charges.
Capri said the victim and suspect did not know each other and the cause of the assault is unknown.
"Nothing good happens at 3 in the morning," Capri said.