MIDDLE TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Police in Middle Township, New Jersey, are looking for the suspect who attacked a man outside his home early Tuesday morning. It was all caught on video.
Action News spoke with the victim, 53-year-old Mike O'Neill, on Tuesday night.
O'Neill, who owns a business, said his day typically starts around 4 a.m.
As he got ready to leave around 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday, he heard something outside of his home. As he walked down his front steps, he saw a man cowering next to a car in the driveway.
"I go around the other side of my pickup truck. I ask him, 'What are you doing?' He's got the nerve to tell me, 'I live down the street,'" O'Neill recalled.
O'Neill responded, "Ok. What are you doing in my yard?'"
O'Neill said the man then started approaching him. He grabbed a piece of wood for protection and pulled out his phone to snap a picture of the suspect.
"But as I'm backing up, I didn't realize my tree is behind me, so I started to go down," O'Neill said. "He decided at that time, when I was vulnerable, to be the coward he is and commence beating me with his metal thermos."
O'Neill said the suspect actually broke the thermos in the process of hitting him.
The man eventually ran away from the area, but O'Neill's home surveillance video shows he quickly returned to grab his thermos.
O'Neill said he called for help from his wife, who was inside sleeping at the time. They called police, who came to their home to investigate on Tuesday morning.
Later at the hospital, O'Neill was given the all-clear after undergoing a CAT scan and evaluation.
"I'm fortunate," he told Action News. "I'm fortunate to be able to sit here tonight and give my story."
O'Neill, who has lived in Middle Township his entire life, said this situation has rocked him. But, he said he is confident this man will be found and held accountable.
"With the help of the community, this character will be found. That's why I'm doing this interview. To let everyone know that you don't have to be a victim," he explained.
Middle Township police said this incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call them.