Scottish Tourist Is Stabbed in Florida Robbery Attempt

A tourist from Scotland was stabbed while walking near the ocean early Thursday in the latest of a series of attacks against foreign visitors to Florida, police said.

Donny MacLeod, 26, was attacked by two men who tried to grab his neck chain. They stabbed him three times when he resisted, a police spokeswoman said.

MacLeod ran to a nearby hotel for help and was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for stab wounds in the abdomen, chest and leg. He was later released from the Cleveland Clinic, hospital spokeswoman Laura Williams said.

The suspects did not get MacLeod’s chain, police said.

MacLeod was attacked about two blocks from the beach in a neighborhood frequented by tourists, police spokeswoman Sonya Friedman said.

MacLeod left Ft. Lauderdale with his Bahamas-bound tour group later Thursday, local media reported. He lives near Portree, on the Scottish island of Skye.

Nine foreign tourists have been killed in Florida in just over a year. Authorities have responded with stepped-up safety programs for tourists and more highway patrols.

On Wednesday, a Florida judge lifted a gag order and allowed police to announce that they had arrested four teen-age suspects in the murder of a British tourist.

Jefferson County Sheriff Ken Fortune said the four had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and auto theft.