SAN ANTONIO — A Texas man is accused of throwing an 81-year-old man down an escalator during a January incident at a San Antonio mall, authorities said.
According to a Facebook post by the San Antonio Police Department, Daymein Garcia, 31, was arrested on Monday in Travis County. He was charged with causing serious bodily injury to the elderly, police said.
The confrontation occurred on Jan. 27 in the dressing room at a Dillard’s department store in San Antonio’s North Star Mall, KENS-TV reported.
Detective Rodney Franklin of the San Antonio police told KSAT that the 81-year-old man, who wanted to try on a sweater, had opened a dressing room door not knowing that a woman was inside. The man quickly closed the door, Franklin told the television station.
“They yelled that it was a female changing room. He yelled back, ‘No, it’s a handicapped-changing room,’” Franklin told KSAT in a Feb. 15 interview.
The female in the dressing room found her mother and told her what happened, KENS reported. The incident on the elevator occurred several minutes later.
Dillard’s security camera video allegedly shows the 81-year-old man walking onto the escalator, the San Antonio Express-News reported. In the footage, the man, who has not been identified, can be seen being grabbed from behind and pulled backward.
The man falls and is dragged upward on his stomach while the escalator continues its upward motion.
The victim suffered lacerations to his head, a broken finger and bruising on his ribs and legs, the newspaper reported.
Police used the surveillance video to track down Garcia, who was subsequently arrested.
According to police, Garcia is awaiting extradition to Bexar County, KSAT reported.