Frightening footage shows the moment a 67-year-old man was brutally accosted in a Houston parking lot after getting confused and mistaking his attackers’ car for his daughter’s.
The victim attacked in the clip has since been identified as Florentino Hurtado, who relatives said was diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s two years ago.
The men seen carrying out the beating – which happened Saturday outside a local meat market – are believed to be Trayvion Lockridge and Derodric Stephens, who are both in police custody following the assault.
The pair – allegedly seen bombarding the senior with blows before stomping him to the ground – are being held on charges of aggravated robbery of a victim over the age of 65.
The state first asked Lockridge’s bond be set at $1million, but the defense countered with a request for $3,000. The amount, in turn, was set to $50,000, after cops aired their belief Lockridge punched Hurtado eight times and stomped him at least four.
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Stephens’ bond, meanwhile, has not been set, as prosecutors said he has five pending cases in addition to the new charge. The allegation, more serious than regular aggravated robbery, carries a max penalty of 99 years in prison.
As Hurtado recovers from a broken cheekbone, numerous cuts that required stitches, and a possible traumatic brain injury, his daughter Jessica on Thursday described how she believes the attack transpired.
‘My dad, you can see him stumble up and get up, and you could tell he was obviously confused and dazed as well, and he started wandering towards the pawnshop,’ Jessica told KTRK, narrating the now widely seen security clip.
Pointing to a part where her Spanish-speaking father pulled on the door handle of the pair’s car, she said her dad likely got confused and possibly mistook their car for hers.
‘A simple push, a simple ‘go away’ is the most that would have been necessary, Jessica said – explaining how her father had been with her mom at the time and requires constant supervision.
She further cited how the retiree does not speak a word of English – a fact that likely contributed to the confusion.
‘My dad would have walked away,’ she insisted, before revealing some of the heart wrenching details behind her father’s likely long road to recovery.
‘It’s hard to watch (the surveillance video), to see someone have that aggression towards somebody and the fact that it’s our dad,’ she added, before tearfully declaring: ‘He didn’t deserve it.’
The surveillance footage outside the meat store near Tidwell in the 5900 block of North Shepherd tells the rest of the story, and how the two easily angered attackers rained blows on Hurtado until he collapsed into submission.
Jessica added that her dad – who remains hospitalized with a pronounced black eye – weighs less than 100 pounds, and had been waiting in his car while his wife momentarily dipped into the market for a food ingredient to make tamales.
After he wandered out and pulled the wrong handle, the two men – who are noticeably larger than the victim – enter the frame, and repeatedly punch Hurtado’s head, leaving him on the pavement.
Even in this position, Hurtado’s ambush continued, with the pair proceeding to stomp the senior’s head against the concrete several times.
After the attack, the suspects somehow made their escape, while a badly damaged Hurtado is seen dusting himself off before staggering aimlessly around the lot.
Cops said the two men ended up leaving in the car in question after making off with Hurtado’s cellphone. The senior today is said to have no recollection of the attack.
“We’re already dealing with a lot of Alzheimer’s, and anyone who has family dealing with dementia knows it’s a lot,’ Jessica said.
‘So the fact that this had to happen is just sad. It’s really sad,’ she continued. ‘My father did not deserve this at all.’
She went on to air her disapproval over the state’s decision to offer Lockridge $50,000 bond.
‘It’s just sad,’ she said in the sit down interview, where she appeared increasingly emotional.
‘It’s really sad, my father did not deserve this at all,’ she added. ‘We just want justice for my dad. That’s all we want.’
Both men, as of Saturday, remain jailed on the aggravated robbery charges. Stephens, however, has yet to appear in court for his bond to be set, and it remains unclear how the pair were apprehended following the filmed parking lot encounter.
As for Hurtado, his daughter heartbreakingly revealed how he had a moment of clarity in the hospital after the attack where he questioned why someone would do this to him, but has since seen the event wiped from his memory.
After receiving several stitches and being diagnosed with a potential brain injury, he remains on the mend, though photos from recovery show just how savage the beating he underwent was.
Jessica on Thursday said: ‘I understand my dad made a horrible mistake, but he didn’t deserve what that person did to him, so it’s been very hard.
‘I think anyone who understands the people who deal with Alzheimer’s or just older people, everyone gets confused.’
Cops in Houston, meanwhile, continue to investigate the incident.
Those arent “Texas men” those are just plain niggers
Nothing but rabid feral animals that should be euthanized for the safety of society. Justice in the united states is a joke unless you vote red then they will nail you for everything they can twist into an offence. The real criminals get to walk the streets with immunity from justice.
It was an excuse used to justify their unwarranted attack . Now you know what won’t happen ? There will be no protest, no riots , no looting, and no random people being dragged out of their cars and beaten to death. And last the city won’t be burning. And the charges will be lowered to misdemeanors
Men? Hardly. more like self involved thugs .