SAN ANTONIO – One man is in custody and two others are sought today in the beating death of a quadriplegic man inside a housing complex near the former Kelly Air Force Base. Three men and a woman were also hurt in the attack.
The 47-year-old quadriplegic’s body was found Saturday morning on a bed in his ransacked apartment, with a pillow over his battered face. The victim, whom EMS technicians said had died from serious head trauma resulting from the beating, was not identified pending notification of relatives.
Although investigators weren’t sure whether the victims knew their attackers, police don’t believe the home invasion was a random attack.
“We do feel the suspects knew what they were looking for,” police spokesman Richard Solis told the San Antonio Express-News in today’s online edition.
He said 26-year-old Larry Salazar was arrested on a warrant Saturday by the police department’s gang unit. A charge was pending against the man in the quadriplegic’s death, said police spokesman Sgt. Gabe Trevino.
Two more suspects were being sought in the attacks.
The assailants were armed with knives, bats and a screwdriver when they forced their way into the one-bedroom apartment in southwest San Antonio, then repeatedly beat the woman and four men after forcing them to lie face-down on the living room floor.
Solis said the woman, described in her 20s, was sexually assaulted outside the apartment after she was ordered to disrobe in the kitchen. The assailants then blindfolded her, gave her a T-shirt to wear and tried to push her into a car, but she was able to escape and run to a neighbor’s apartment where she pleaded for an ambulance.
The other victims were bruised and cut during the attacks. They were taken to a hospital for treatment, but their injuries did not appear life-threatening, police said.
The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, described the man who was killed as a friendly man who had lived in the apartment complex at least a year and opened up his home to anybody in need.
Associated Press
