A homeless man was beaten and sprayed with paint early Saturday morning, police said.
Jose Mineros, 42, was asleep in his usual spot at Mission Playground when a young man began beating and kicking him at 5:40 a.m., said Lieutenant Raj Vaswani, the watch commander on duty at the time.
Mineros was admitted to San Francisco General Hospital after the attack. He is being treated for cuts and bruises and is in good condition, a hospital spokesperson said.
Eighteen-year-old Maricio Cariaz was charged with assault with a deadly weapon (his foot) and with a caustic chemical (spray paint), Vaswani said.
The two men did not appear to know each other.
“It wasn’t like the victim antagonized him,” said Vaswani. “He was just lying there asleep in the park. It’s disturbing that the suspect felt it was OK to beat up someone who was just sleeping.”
Police said Cariaz was at the playground drinking with a friend and his girlfriend just before the attack. The other two did not participate in the attack, but they fled the scene when police arrived and arrested Cariaz, who was reportedly drunk.
Cariaz initially cooperated with police, but is no longer speaking to officers, Vaswani said.
Police are still confirming that Cariaz, who will not be released on bail right away, gave his actual name when arrested.
The case will be brought to the district attorney for prosecution, Vaswani said.
Pretty honest though…
Pretty lame comment.
Attacked a homeless guy with spraypaint? So, a tagger beat up a vagrant, basically.