Three assailants all plead guilty in February attack

Published 11:12 am Friday, September 6, 2013

A third man involved in a February attack outside of an Austin gas station pleaded guilty Thursday in Mower County Court.

Luis Rodriguez, 27, of Austin, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault with a weapon causing substantial bodily harm. His accomplices, Roberto Rocha, 23, and Jose Moyeda, 19, pleaded guilty to those same charges in May.

Four victims said the three men attacked them on Feb. 20 in the 1200 block of East Oakland Avenue., and one assailant repeatedly hit a 17-year-old with an aluminum bat and fractured his skull. The Mayo Clinic never released details about his condition.

Email newsletter signup

One victim said the fight was gang related and involved a group called the “Northsiders.” The assailants may have retaliated because they say the victims harassed a 14-year-old boy at the Austin Public Library.

Police arrested the suspects in a black Lincoln car shortly after the fight at about 7:30 p.m. The victims — 17, 16, and two 15-year-olds — positively identified the suspects, according to the court complaints.

The court complaint stated the victim who was struck in the head suffered cranial hemorrhaging and a fractured lower skull.

Still, he gave details to an officer at the hospital — similar details other victims mentioned. According to their accounts, the assailants exited the car, and Rodriguez grabbed the bat from the trunk. In the court complaint, the victims say Rocha and Moyeda tackled the 17-year-old, and Rodriguez hit him several times with the bat. Another victim reported being hit several times, as well. The victims and a witness say Moyeda had a crowbar.

All men have yet to be sentenced.