An illegal alien who had been deported six times has been charged with multiple crimes related to three murders and five other assaults, mostly on homeless men.
Ramon Alberto Escobar, 47, of El Salvador, was arrested on Sept. 24, for badly beating a sleeping man’s head with a set of bolt-cutters.
Escobar was charged on Sept. 26, with attacks on eight men total, three of whom died from the assaults.
Escobar also faces special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a robbery, making him eligible for the death penalty.
Repeatedly Deported
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said on Sept. 25, that Ramon Alberto-Escobar had been seized in the U.S. and deported to El Salvador six times between 1977 and 2011.Hayes reported that Escobar had served five years in prison in Texas for burglary, and had been arrested in Texas on suspicion of assault and criminal trespass in the past two years.
Apparently, Escobar fled Texas after authorities began investigating him in August regarding the disappearance of two relatives there. The Houston Police Department wants to question him further.
Houston detectives questioned Escobar on Aug. 30, after his missing aunt and uncle’s van showed up, badly burned, in Galveston, Texas a few days after the couple disappeared.
Houston Police Department spokesman Kese Smith told AP that he had no further information about the disappearance of 60-year-old Dina Escobar and 65-year-old Rogelio Escobar. The Houston Police consider Ramon Escobar a person of interest in the cases.
Arrived and Attacked
According to ICE spokesperson Hayes, Escobar arrived in Los Angeles on Sept. 5. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said his suspected first attack on a homeless man occurred in Santa Monica on Sept. 8, just three days later.He allegedly attacked another homeless man in Santa Monica two days later.
On Sept. 16, Escobar allegedly attacked three different homeless men with a baseball bat, killing two of them, Branden Ridout and Kelvin Williams. Reuters reported that the third is still in a coma.
Escobar reportedly attacked two more homeless men before attacking and killing Steven Cruze under Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 20.