A Detroit man faces up to a decade in prison after police allege he sucker-punched an elderly tourist from Germany on Saturday in downtown Detroit.

Lawrence Gilchrist, 30, faces charges of assault with intent to do great bodily harm and aggravated assault, both 10-year felonies, for allegedly attacking an 81-year-old tourist from Bremen, Germany on Woodard Avenue near Campus Martius, WJBK reports.

Detroit Police posted to Facebook that officers responded to the 1000 block of Woodward around 10:14 a.m. on Saturday and found the victim on the ground suffering from a head injury.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“It is alleged that Gilchrist approached the victim and without provocation hit him causing him to fall and injure his head,” the post read.

Gilchrist was arraigned Tuesday and given a $50,000 bond, though Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dinah Lynch argued he should remain behind bars without bail.

The judge noted “you informed the officer quote ‘I knocked his ass out.’”

“This was an unprovoked violent felony on a victim that’s over 80 years old,” Lynch said in a video of the arraignment posted online by WDIV.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“The suspect simply walked up to him and immediately and violently hit him,” she said. “The probability of conviction and sentencing is strong given the entire assault took place on video camera.”

Lynch cited pending criminal misdemeanor charges against Gilchrist for alcohol in public in May 2023 and disorderly person – drunk, in July 2023, as well as a history of court-appointed mental health treatment, in her request for the judge to remand. She also noted Gilchrest has a suspended driver’s license.

Gilchrist was wanted on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the misdemeanor charges when he was arrested on Saturday.

“We believe his is a danger to the public, and his behavior is unpredictable,” Lynch said.

“The victim remains unconscious and is unresponsive,” Lynch said. “And we are waiting for updates hourly. We are not certain the victim with survive this incident.”

The victim was on a Great Lakes cruise when he was attacked during a stop in Detroit, WJBK reports.

Gilchrest’s attorney, Phil Ragan, noted Gilchrist does not yet have any criminal convictions when he urged the judge to grant bail.

“We have a 30-year-old young man, works every day, has two children, lives in the city, so he has ties, not a flight risk,” Ragan said.

Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy identified the victim as Dieter Kirsch in a prepared statement cited by WZYZ.

“A lot of work has gone into making our city a welcoming beacon for all, only to have the alleged horrific actions of this defendant deeply tarnish these efforts,” she said. “But much more importantly, 81-year-old Dieter Kirsch must pay the undeserved price of what the defendant decided to do.

“This is heartbreaking on so many levels,” Worthy said.

Gilchrist’s arrest follows a study of violent crime in June that ranked Michigan the second most violent state in the nation, behind New Mexico.

In total, the study conducted by the DeMayo Law Office using data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation found Michigan had over 608,000 violent crimes between 2018 and 2022, or about 1,286 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, WJIM reports.

The figure is more than four times higher than in New Jersey, the least violent state, according to the data.

The data shows Michigan had 421,160 simple assaults across the five year time frame, by far the most among offenses analyzed. Aggravated assaults accounted for 139,360 of the violent crimes, while there were also 21,184 rapes, 3,064 murders, and 129 justifiable homicides.