Victim believes same man is behind unprovoked attacks in Houston

HOUSTON – Houston police are asking for help in locating the suspect drawn by a sketch artist who allegedly beat a man walking his dog in the Montrose/River Oaks area on April 6.

A week after the attack on the man, a couple walking in the same area were also injured after being beaten in an unprovoked attack.

RELATED: Man wanted, accused of beating 77-year-old man from behind near River Oaks Shopping Center last month

The man who was hit in the first attack said he was sure it was the same suspect in both cases.

“I’ve lived in this area for 24 years, you know?” said Greg Audel. “For me, there is no safer place than my neighborhood.”

On Saturday, April 6, at 11:15 a.m., Audel was walking his dog near the intersection of West Gray and Waugh Drive.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man coming towards him.

“Suddenly he was standing right next to me,” Audel said. “And he just said, ‘Do you want to get beat up today?'”

But before Audel could even process the question, he said, “He got me.”

Seconds later, Audel was on his back. The attacker was straddling him and repeatedly punching him in the face. Audel said he managed to hit the suspect with his stick and get back on his feet and across the street. But the attacker followed him.

“As soon as I got here, he was on top of me again and attacked me again,” Audel said. “And then he got really angry and slammed my head into the concrete.”

As the beating continued, Audel prayed and tried to memorize the details of his attacker’s face, he said.

“I was focused and staring at his face because I wanted to remember it, and that’s exactly what I did,” Audel said. “You have to have a plan. You don’t want something like that to ever happen, but it could happen.”

Audel gave his description of the suspect to a sketch artist, who created a picture of it that was released by police in an attempt to catch the attacker.

Audel said strangers helped save his life.

“I tell people the story is one villain, five heroes,” Audel said. “If they hadn’t stopped, I think I definitely would have been killed.”

The drivers and passengers in two different cars saw what was happening, stopped and got out, causing the attacker to flee. Audel, who was badly beaten and covered in blood, was taken to hospital by ambulance.

“The physical injuries heal, you know. This will take longer,” Audel said, pointing to his head.

But what hurts him as much as the physical injuries he sustained is the fact that just a week after his beating, a similar attack occurred. A 77-year-old man and his wife were leaving Ginger Cafe the following Saturday. Houston police said the man seen in stills from surveillance video attacked the couple and brutally beat them.

KHOU 11 showed these photos to Audel for the first time. He said he was sure it was the same man who attacked him.

“For the first few weeks, I saw him half a block away all the time, or I could feel him half a block behind me,” he said.

Audel said he was physically and mentally fine after the attack, but he could not really rest until the suspect was caught.

“I want this guy arrested,” Audel said. “I want him off the streets. I don’t want him to hurt anyone else.”

Houston police could not confirm today whether they believe the attacks were carried out by the same suspect. Security officials said they saw the suspect in the same area last week and reported the sighting to police.