A suspect has been arrested in the New Year's attack outside a Miami Beach nightclub that left a college student in a coma, police said Friday, just hours after the victim's family appealed to the public's help in finding their son's attacker.
Cody James Quaife, 34, who also goes by the street name of "Q," was arrested and and charged with felony battery for the attack on Youness Adlan in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day outside the Cameo Night Club.
Quaife, who police say is a doorman at Cameo, turned himself in with his lawyer Friday afternoon, police said. Police said Quaife, "unprovoked, struck the victim in the face one time, causing the victim to fall back and strike his head on the sidewalk.”
Youness suffered multiple fractures to his skull and had a second surgery Friday to deal with the injuries. He’s been in a coma ever since he was hit.
“I just want my son to be better, just, just -- I don’t know if I am angry, but all I know is I need my son,” the victim’s father Najem Adlan said. “This stitch is too hard for me and his mom, for all who love him. He was a very good boy.”
Youness was attending college in Rhode Island when he decided to come to Miami for New Year’s Eve. When reached by phone Friday night, a manager at the club said no comment to every question posed by NBC 6.
The Adlan family issued a statement Friday night that said:
“We greatly appreciate the hard work of the Miami Beach Police Department, the Miami Beach Community and the media that is covering this tragedy. All of their hard work clearly led to the arrest of the individual that attacked Youness.”
