21-Year-Old Homeless Man Charged In Yet Another Metro Bus Stop Attack, Victim Speaks Out

By Web staff

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    GLENDALE, California (KCAL) — The victim of a violent attack in Glendale earlier this week is out of the hospital, while her suspected attacker is behind bars.

After the recent killing of 70-year-old emergency room nurse Sandra Shells earlier this month by a homeless man, identified as 48-year-old Kerry Bell, who was later arrested and charged with murder, another woman has been attacked by a homeless man.

Both incidents occurred at a Metro bus stop, this latest one in Glendale.

“It was horrible. I almost lost my life,” the female victim, who did not want to be identified on camera, told CBSLA.

Along with bandages on her fingers, which cover rows of stitches, she also had to get staples in the back of her as a result of the attack.

“He hit my head with something really hard, and then I felt he was pulling my purse,” she said.

The pulling caused her to fall to the concrete and hit her head. Then the attacker decided to drag her, bleeding, 15 feet away until her purse strap finally broke. He then ran away.

“I stood up and I started screaming, you know,” the victim said.

She was then able to manage to get to a nearby liquor store for some help.

“We wanted to find the suspect as quickly as possible,” Glendale Police Department Sgt. Christian Hauptmann said.

Police were able to track 21-year-old Mario Gonzalez down and he has since been charged with robbery, as well as a felony probation violation.

Investigators said he also had 30 pieces of stolen mail, a master mailbox key and fentanyl on him when he was arrested.

“He must have some really bad problems,” the victim of the attack said.

She said that she’s terrified about the growing number of homeless people she sees with mental health problems and documented histories of violence going unchecked in LA County. She said she fears that they’ll continue preying on other vulnerable women.

“It’s like I am traumatized,” she told CBSLA.

After the attack, she confided in police that she needed some more help, a new place to live, and so Glendale police went back to work and found her a safe place to stay.

When asked if it feels good to know she’s in a safe place, Sgt. Hauptmann didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, it does,” he said.

Because of the felony probation violation, Gonzalez is still in jail on $125,000 bail.

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