When a local saw our coverage of a random, brutal attack outside a thrift store in Albuquerque last month, it seemed shockingly familiar.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – When a local saw our coverage of a random, brutal attack outside a thrift store in Albuquerque last month, it seemed frighteningly familiar.
Police then released the name of the suspect – Brian Eisenbeis.
That was the same name and face as the man who allegedly attacked him a few years ago, just a block away from the same thrift store. Mario Chavez says he was fortunate to survive that attack with only minor injuries, but he was nervous and didn’t know if he would meet Eisenbeis again.
“I’m still paranoid that he’s out there, and when I saw it, I knew this guy was a psycho,” Chavez said.
Chavez said he walked to the bus stop after work one evening in August 2022 and made his way to Central via Laguna.
“Right on the corner he stopped like a madman, hit the brakes, got out, ran in front of me, just stared at me and said something strange,” Chavez said.
Chavez continued walking, but he said the man began to chase him.
“Somehow he grabbed me and threw me to the ground, broke my glasses, broke my watch, everything,” Chavez said.
The two began wrestling on the ground near Central. Chavez then says his attacker jumped up and ran away.
KOB 4 received a witness video from the police. It does not show the attack, but rather shows Chavez standing up afterwards and throwing a rock at his attacker’s truck.
“I had scratches and bruises, I took two days off because I couldn’t move properly, I was in so much pain because I was thrown on the ground because he’s a big guy,” Chavez said.
Chavez said police officers met him later in the day to take a report. Witnesses secured the suspect’s license plate number.
A police report shows they were able to connect that license plate to another incident that same day. Police told Chávez that the attacker was Brian Eisenbeis, but the case was ultimately closed pending further information.
“It was just so random and I was just crazy,” Chavez said. “It messes you up, but you have to keep going, you know?”
The memories came flooding back when he saw a KOB 4 report in mid-April about a brutal, random attack on two elderly volunteers outside the St. John’s Thrift Shop. One volunteer was hospitalized with a broken femur. The other volunteer had less serious injuries. Police said the attack was Eisenbeis’s.
“When I saw it on the news, I thought, yeah, I knew he would do it again in this area,” Chavez said.
Police caught Eisenbeis in Missouri earlier this week. He is extradited to New Mexico because of the thrift store attacks.
Chavez wonders how many more people could have been injured over the years.
“I just wanted to tell my story because there might be other victims out there, we don’t know,” Chavez said.
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