St. Petersburg Police are searching for the man who repeatedly punched a UF student.
Zachary Taylor will now take medical leave from a Summer class after an unknown man attacked him at the Del Mar Gastro Lounge, he wrote in an email.
Taylor is a 22-year-old computer science and engineering senior, said Paul Bernard, a promotional copywriter at UF.
On May 7 at about 1:30 a.m., Taylor waited in line for the restroom when a man tried to move forward, according to a press release.
The man wanted his girlfriend to take Taylor’s spot, he wrote.
“I was scared and worried why he was being so aggressive since I did not think it was unreasonable to tell him to have his girlfriend wait in line after me,” Taylor wrote.
The man then hit Taylor twice and ran, said Yolanda Fernandez, the spokeswoman for the police department.
“Initially that night when we arrived, the crowd kind of pointed out one man, but it wasn’t him,” Fernandez said.
She said a St. Petersburg hospital helped Taylor before he traveled to Gainesville and received further treatment.
“First of all, there’s no reason to punch someone over an argument over a bathroom line,” Fernandez said.
The attack, Taylor wrote, left him with a severe headache and sore body, along with a fractured skull, wrist and ear canal.
“I hope that I can press charges, and he is dealt with appropriately,” he wrote.
