Second assailant sentenced to probation for February attack
Published 9:42 am Monday, September 30, 2013
The second assailant in a February attack outside an Austin gas station was sentenced Friday in Mower County Court.
Roberto Rocha, 23, of Austin, was sentenced to 10 years’ supervised probation and 80 hours of community service for four months for second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and second-degree riot with a dangerous weapon.
Jose Moyeda, 19, of Austin, was sentenced earlier this month to 21 months in prison for the same charges. He was given credit for 204 days in jail but must pay $16,705 in restitution to one of the victims, as well. Luis Rodriguez, 27, has yet to be sentenced in the case.
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.
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.