On October 6, 2019, Newark Police received a report from an area hospital that a patient had been admitted to the facility for a serious head injury following an assault.  Newark Police Detectives began to investigate the incident.

The investigation revealed that on October 4, 2019, at about 2100 hours, the male victim was outside of a restaurant located in the 800 block of South College Avenue.  The victim was smoking with a friend.  The victim had an interaction with a member of the restaurant staff and the victim was advised that he was not allowed to return to the restaurant.  The victim began to exchange words with one of the employees and a second person struck the victim in the back of his head.  The victim fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

After the victim regained consciousness, he returned to a residence.  The next day, October 5th, the victim was transported to an area hospital after he began to shows signs of injury.  The victim underwent emergency surgery for a serious injury to his head

Based upon witness statements and surveillance video, the suspect in this incident was identified as Eric Brittingham, 36, of Delaware City.  In the early morning hours of October 9th, Brittingham was contacted by a Newark Police patrol officer after he was observed operating a vehicle.  Brittingham was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol and was taken into custody without incident.

Brittingham was transported to Newark Police Headquarters where he was charged with one count of Assault First Degree and DUI.  Brittingham appeared before Justice of the Peace Court #2 by video and was ordered to be held in default of $60,000 secured bail.  Brittingham was turned over to the custody of the Howard R Young Correctional Facility in Wilmington.