"Violent predator" charged with three murders after attacks on homeless



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Ramon Escobar was arrested Monday in Santa Monica after a morning attack.

Among the alleged Escobar victims, one is alive, two are in a coma and one has been treated and released from the hospital, Hayes said.

He told the press that Escobar was also a person of interest in an investigation into the disappearance of two family members with whom he lived in Houston, Texas. Escobar fled Texas to California in early September, after being questioned by Houston authorities, CNN affiliate reported.

Escobar is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday to face three murders and four attempted murders.

Multiple deportations

Between 1997 and 2011, Escobar was deported to El Salvador six times, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Last year, he was released from custody of the ICE after appealing his most recent immigration case, according to the ICE release.

The agency said Escobar has six convictions for burglary crime and illegal reintegration.

ICE stated that it had filed a complaint against Escobar, stating that the agency wanted to detain Escobar for immigration removal proceedings each time he was released.

Baseball bat, bolt cutter recovered

Escobar was arrested Monday at the scene of an attack in Santa Monica after a uniformed police officer acknowledged him as matching the description of a man wanted for past assault, "said Mr. Hayes.

A LAPD wanted a poster with surveillance photos of a person wanted during the series of attacks.

Police said they had recovered a pair of bolt cutters and a wooden baseball bat believed to have been used as a weapon in the attacks, Hayes said.

The attacks on three homeless men in downtown Los Angeles took place on September 16th. Two of the men died and the other is still hospitalized in critical condition.

The victims of these attacks slept on the downtown sidewalk, Hayes said.

"Crime of opportunity"

The Santa Monica attacks took place on September 8, 10, 20 and 24, Capt. Wendell Shirley of the Santa Monica Police Department told reporters. In each case, the victims slept on the beach when they were assaulted, he said.

"(Escobar) is a violent predator, he attacks innocent people, especially most of the victims are people who slept when he arrived," Hayes told reporters.

While most of Escobar's alleged victims were homeless, Hayes said the investigators did not think they were targeted for this reason. Hayes said Escobar also appears to have been homeless.

"It does not seem like it was targeting a specific group, I think it was a crime of opportunity," Hayes said. "It seems that in most cases, the mobile was theft."

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