81-year-old victim in escalator attack caught on camera suffered ‘severe’ injuries

Police still looking for pair of suspects, linked to case

SAN ANTONIO – An 81-year-old man, who was the victim of an attack on an escalator which was caught on camera, suffered “severe” injuries, according to San Antonio police.

A report describes his injuries in detail, saying he hit his head, which then began bleeding. It mentions he also suffered internal injuries and a broken finger.

RELATED: Search underway for suspects who threw man down escalator at North Star Mall

Police are still looking for a man and woman, seen in the video, who they have linked to the Jan. 27 attack.

The video was taken inside Dillard’s at North Star Mall.

It shows the victim going up an escalator one minute, then suddenly being yanked from behind by another man.

The victim fell backwards, landing on the moving metal stairs.

The report says he hit his head so hard that the stairs left an impression on him.

The news about the attack left Reginald Flanders, who often walks past the mall during his morning workout, both surprised and saddened.

“You know, you respect your elders. That should’ve been the first thing that, whatever the situation was,” he said. “Why didn’t (they) at least, you know, think, ‘Hey, this could be my mom, my dad, my uncle.’”

Also seen in the video is a woman who police say was with the male suspect at the time.

Police also have named her as a suspect, saying she looked at the victim after he was hurt but did not try to help him.

A second female, seen in the lower left corner of the video, was with the couple, according to the report.

However, an SAPD public information officer told KSAT 12 News Tuesday morning that there was no indication right now that she might be a third suspect in the case.

So far, police have not said whether they believe the attack was provoked by something that happened prior, or if it was a random assault.

The SAPD spokeswoman said the detective handling the case was off Tuesday, so there was no way to learn more about the motive for the attack.

Police released the video Monday evening in the hope that it might generate some leads that help them identify the pair.

Flanders, meanwhile, said he hopes to see an end to this type of behavior.

“You know, let’s be kind to one another first,” he said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call SAPD’s homicide unit at (210) 207-7635.


About the Authors

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Santiago Esparza is a photojournalist at KSAT 12.

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