Police say a 74-year-old man will never see again after an assault at Rochester Square Apartments Friday afternoon.

Just after 2 p.m., officers were called here to check out a noise complaint.

A horrific scene awaited them.

"You just don’t know until you get on scene. And for our officers, they are trained to expect the unexpected," Captain of Investigations of Rochester Police Department John Sherwin said. " In this case they certainly encountered a scene that you often don’t see."

Police say they found 18-year-old Mahad Aziz straddling the 74-year-old victim in a pool blood.

Police say the attack between relatives was sustained and vicious – both of the man’s eyes had been completely gouged out of their sockets, and most of his teeth were knocked out. No weapons were used.

"There are a lot of things that we don’t know. Mainly due to the circumstances of the assault," Sherwin said. "The injuries sustained by the victim makes it difficult to, at least during our initial investigation, find out exactly what happened. What we do know is that an assault occurred between two individuals. "

Police say Aziz would not speak to them, and was then taken to Mayo Clinic – Saint Marys for a mental health evaluation. After being medically cleared, Aziz was booked. He currently remains in the adult detention center.

Investigators believe he pulled both eye balls out of the victim, and neither eyes have been found.

The victim and the suspect are related.

Aziz was charged of first degree assault on Monday. Sherwin says the department only charges a handful of first degree assaults a year due to the language in the law.

"It’s a permanent injury that’s disabling. A permanent loss of a bodily function. And obviously that applies in this case," Sherwin said.

As for the 74-year-old victim, his injuries may not be life-threatening, but he will be dealing with the loss of his vision for the rest of his life.

"You lose your eyes, it’s not…there’s no replacement," Sherwin said. "Obviously this is an injury that is going to change this mans life."



