Navy veteran left with brain injury after brutal attack while walking dog in Philadelphia

A veteran Navy commander was left with a brain injury after being brutally beaten and robbed in north Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood on Saturday night.

62-year-old Scott Harris was walking his dog Nora around 11:30 pm when he came across a crowd gathered in a neighborhood park near the intersection of 30th and Jefferson streets, according to Fox 29.

"Large party going on across the street that in hindsight I probably should not have walked near, next thing I remember I'm in the ER because I kind of blacked out after that," Harris told the outlet.

Police say that at least one person attacked Harris, knocking him unconscious and stealing his wallet. Harris told NBC 10 that he has no memory of the attack, adding that there was no cash inside the wallet, but instead, it held a sentimental item, his mother’s driver's license.

"Sadly, only thing I really cared about in that wallet was my mother's driver's license," he said. "She passed about 10 years ago. That's kind of how I kept her close and now I don't even have that."

Harris suffered broken teeth, severe swelling and bruising in the face, and a brain injury, with doctors having to give him at least 100 stitches, many of which were placed inside of his mouth.

"I did a year in a war zone in Iraq, did 2 years in Ukraine, and would not have expected this to happen in my own neighborhood," Harris said.

Harris’ partner, Joseph Hurchick, was at home at the time of the attack and believes the attacker was from the large party. Surveillance footage from their home captured three women helping Harris and his dog back home.

"They brought him back, otherwise I don't know what would have happened," Hurchick said. "We were on the stoop and he was just bleeding, I was on the phone with 911, I didn't know where the blood was coming from, I didn't know if he was stabbed."

The two said they have complained several times to the police about large crowds gathering in the park from outside the neighborhood for late-night kickbacks, but added that their complaints have gone unaddressed.

"This is what happens when something is not policed, it could have been worse," Hurchick said. "It's going to take a murder for this to stop."

No information on a suspect has been released.