An actor charged with sexually abusing a minor was viciously attacked outside a courtroom in Las Vegas, security images have shown.
Yousuf Azami, a 59-year-old actor from Afghanistan, appeared in court last Tuesday to face charges of kidnapping, lewdness and sexual assault.
Yet in footage obtained by KLAS, Azami is seen walking out of the Las Vegas courtroom before his hearing began, when a man approached him before punching and pummeling him to the ground.
The man continued to attack Azami as security guards successfully broke up the incident.
The assailant, since identified as Glenn Cromwell Jr., is understood to be connected to the alleged victim.
He was taken to the hospital and has since been charged with battery.
Alleged teen sex predator punched in the face outside Las Vegas courtroom, video shows https://t.co/0bn6VOdanG via @nypost
— Robert J Kingsbury (@RobertJKingsbu1) January 27, 2024
The case unfolded on Sept. 3 when officers responded to a call from the Mirage Hotel on the Las Vegas strip.
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The teenager told police she was walking around a marijuana dispensary parking lot looking for something to “smoke and eat” when she encountered Azami, who drove her to his apartment and assaulted her.
“Azami was on the couch for a while on his phone and then came to lay with her on the bed,” police said.
“[The teenager] had just started to fall asleep when Azami lay behind her. She stated she felt his pelvis ‘grinding’ against her and he was not wearing any clothes.”
After asking Azami to stop, the teenager reportedly left the apartment and went to the Mirage Hotel where she told a man that “she had been kidnapped and raped and needed police.”
Azami has denied sexually assaulting the teenager and insisted he was unaware of her age. After posting a $5,000 bail, he is scheduled to return to court next month.
Cromwell, meanwhile, was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return in March.
It is not the first time this year that a Las Vegas courtroom has descended into mayhem.
Earlier this month, Judge Mary Kay Holthus of Clark County District Court was delivering a sentence when she was violently attacked by three-time convicted felon Deobra Delone Redden.
Video footage of the incident showed Redden flying across the bench and brutally attacking the judge. He was later returned to court wearing a mask, shackles and prison mitts to face further assault charges.