Man Accused of Beating Sister Nora Brick is in Jail

A 51-year-old man who is accused of severely beating a well-known nun is in the Pinellas County jail and will be brought back to Manatee County to face charges.

Deputies have been searching for Eliseo Ortiz, 51, for nearly six months since he , 81, a diminutive but tireless advocate for the poor. Crime Stoppers and the Gold Star Club both offered rewards for information leading to his arrest.

Ortiz, who is 30 years younger and weighs nearly twice as much as Brick, hit her in the face on Valentine's Day, according to reports from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. He injured her so badly she had to be hospitalized for a concussion. She also suffered a broken nose and black eyes.

Ortiz was arrested Thursday in Tarpon Springs on a warrant for aggravated battery. He is currently in the Pinellas County Jail. He will be brought back to Manatee County, where he will face charges relating to the attack on the nun who spent months helping him and feeding him.

Brick met Ortiz when he came to the Stillpoint House of Prayer, the 14th Street community center Brick founded in 2000, according to staff and volunteers at the center. The Stillpoint center provides material and spiritual assistance to more than 200 families each week.

Workers at Stillpoint have said Ortiz, who was homeless, had caused several disturbances at the community center and had been thrown out just days before the attack. A sheriff's office report showed Ortiz went to Brick's home several days later asking for a drink of water, and when she let him inside, he began punching her in the face. He then took off on a bicycle.

Those who worked with Brick at Stillpoint handing out donations of food and clothing were stunned by the attack on the Franciscan nun from Ireland, who has spent most of her adult life helping others and was described as the "Mother Theresa of Bradenton." Brick is also the founder of Project Light, which provides educational services to members of the local immigrant community.

Brick came to the United Stated in the 1950s and taught school in New York City. She marched for civil rights in the 1960s. She came to Florida in the mid-1970s to work with migrant workers.

Brick, now 82, lives in a retirement home for nuns in New Jersey. She moved there after recuperating from the attack, but came back to Bradenton in the spring to say goodbye to everyone she had worked with in this community.