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David P. Lake, 51, was taken into custody on Tuesday at The Palace Rehabilitation and Care Center in Maple Shade, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Maple Shade Police Chief Christopher J. Fletcher.
Lake has been charged with first-degree attempted murder after severely beating his 78-year-old roommate at the care facility where they reside on West Mill Road, Coffina and Fletcher said.
The victim's name has not been released.
An investigation began after Maple Shade police and the Maple Shade First Aid Squad were dispatched to the facility on Sunday morning on a report of an assault.
Police determined that Lake had violently attacked his roommate, who is immobile and non-verbal, while the victim was in his bed in their room, Coffina and Fletcher said.
The victim was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, with severe facial trauma and bleeding on his brain, Coffina and Fletcher said on Wednesday.
Lake was taken to a separate medical facility for a psychiatric evaluation, authorities said.
The investigation was conducted by the Maple Shade Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office. The lead investigators are MSPD Det. Brian Martino and BCPO Det. Jen Marchese.
Lake was being held in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court.
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