'Serial killer' suspected of beating homeless people to death in California

A man described as a “violent predator” has been arrested on suspicion of beating homeless men to death in California.

Ramon Escobar, who allegedly fled to the West Coast state from Texas after being questioned over the disappearance of two Houston relatives, is accused of killing three people and seriously injuring four others.

Los Angeles police Captain William Hayes said the 47-year-old was taken into custody after officers searched his car and recovered a wooden baseball bat and bolt cutters that they believe he used to carry out the attacks on random victims in Los Angeles.

Police said the items seized and forensic evidence helped investigators link him to all seven victims.

The El Salvador native’s arrest came days after a man was clubbed in the head with a pair of bolt-cutters as he slept on the pavement in Santa Monica, Los Angeles on 24 September. The victim remains in a coma.

Separately, three homeless men were bludgeoned in the head with a baseball bat on 10 and 16 September as they slept on the streets of downtown LA. Two died and one was left in critical condition.

Steven Ray Cruze Jr, 39, of San Gabriel, was also found dead under the Santa Monica Pier on 20 September.

Investigators believe Mr Escobar is homeless himself and robbery was his main motive for the attacks. Surveillance video showed the attacker ransacking the pockets and belongings of one of the victims.

He now faces three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder.

Mr Escobar’s chequered past included six felony convictions for burglary and illegal re-entry, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.

Records show he spent five years in prison for robbery in the mid-1990s. He has also been arrested for vehicle burglary, trespassing, failure to stop, public intoxication and two assaults, most recently in November 2017.

Immigration officials said that he been deported from the United States six times between 1997 and 2011. He was released from ICE custody last year after appealing against his latest immigration case, and his current legal status remains unclear.

He is also currently the prime suspect in the disappearance of his aunt, Dina Escobar, and her brother, 65-year-old Rogelio Escobar, Houston police said.

Ms Escobar's burnt-out van was found in Galveston, Texas, a few days after she went looking for her brother. She was last seen 28 August, two days after her brother vanished.

Her daughter, Ligia Salamanca, told KTRK-TV that her cousin had never come across as violent person.

"She loved him as she would a son," Ms Salamanca said of her mother's relationship with Mr Escobar.

Mr Escobar is being held without bail.

Additional reporting by Associated Press