Two men charged after a homeless man was mistaken for a repeat shoplifter and beaten near Luell Street in north Houston, police said

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Police say two men have been arrested and charged with beating a man they say is a repeat burglar.

Rodolfo Ramirez, 46, and Joel Ramirez, 43, were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the Wednesday morning attack on a 42-year-old homeless man.

According to court documents, the suspects saw the man standing next to a vehicle in front of their home on Luell Street in North Houston just after 4 a.m. and claimed he was responsible for a string of vehicle break-ins.

Police say one of the men began beating the victim with a metal bat while the other pistol-whipped him.

“Every time they hit him, he was screaming and they were talking in Spanish,” said Willie Gaines, who witnessed part of the attack.

A Spanish-speaking witness told Eyewitness News that the victim was begging her attackers and quoted him as saying, “I’m not going to do it again. I promise you”.

“The way I see it, he understood what he had,” Gaines said.

Police told Eyewitness News they have not received any reports of vehicle thefts at the suspects’ home in the past six months, and the victim has never been charged with a crime.

However, neighbors Eyewitness News spoke to off camera say they sympathize with the suspects.

“You don’t steal from people. If you borrow something from people, you bring it back. You don’t take it,” Gaines said.

Eyewitness News was unable to reach the suspects or the victim in this case for their accounts of what happened.

Earlier this week, the Houston Police Department urged people not to confront suspected thieves and call authorities instead.

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