Medical Condition Suspected at First in Journalist's Fall

[MountainLaurel]

More from the WashPost about the death of NYT reporter Rosenbaum:

D.C. police and emergency workers initially believed that David E. Rosenbaum had a stroke or seizure when they found the longtime journalist on a sidewalk in Northwest Washington on Friday night. Several hours elapsed before they realized he apparently had been beaten and robbed, authorities said yesterday.

The confusion cost police time that could have been spent combing the neighborhood for robbery suspects. It was not until Rosenbaum, a retired New York Times reporter and editor, was evaluated at Howard University Hospital that the authorities viewed him as a crime victim.

Rosenbaum, 63, died Sunday. Police said they believe that he died from a severe head injury sustained during a mugging and that they are treating the case as a homicide. They said they were awaiting autopsy results for more information. No arrests have been made.

Authorities said they had few clues about what happened to Rosenbaum, who left his house about 9 p.m. to take a walk. He was apparently wearing headphones and listening to music when someone approached him and hit him on the head in the 3800 block of Gramercy Street NW, a tree-lined neighborhood of single-family homes in a usually quiet part of the city.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010901245.html