A legal assistant with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office was attacked Tuesday by a man on a courthouse elevator, authorities said.
Ruben Eric Washington, 41, is in the Fulton County jail facing aggravated assault and other charges.
The attack started on the fourth floor, Chris Hopper of the Fulton DA’s office said. The woman was in the lobby waiting for an elevator about 10 a.m.
“When the elevator door opened, she walked in, and another man followed in behind her,” Hopper told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The legal assistant said the man put her in a choke hold, she started screaming, hit an elevator button and the door opened on the eighth floor.”
A defense attorney and another man got the suspect off the victim until deputies arrived and took him into custody, according to a report.
The attorney told sheriff’s investigators that the alleged attacker was choking the victim with one hand and holding scissors in the other.
The woman is all right, Hopper said. She does not know the alleged attacker.
The reason for the attack is not known.
Washington was denied bond during his first court appearance Wednesday, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan. He is also charged with simple battery and obstructing an officer, jail records show.
Washington was wanted for probation violation on a 2010 shoplifting charge and is listed as a fugitive out of Virginia.
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