A woman was shaking and crying out loud at the sight of a man whom she identified as one of her attackers at a west Houston park, court documents illustrate. She went on to tell investigators that she had just fired this person at her workplace.
The detail was part of the emotion jumping off the pages of Oscar Josue Gonzalez Azucena’s paperwork for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge.
The 26-year-old man was arrested on Thursday, some three weeks after the 56-year-old victim fought off two men while she was walking along a trail at Terry Hershey Park in the 15200 block of Memorial Drive on May 15, the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office said.
Azucena was linked to the alleged attack based on the gold-colored SUV that a witness and other surveillance cameras saw shortly after the ordeal, investigators wrote in a charging document.
The paperwork describes two Hispanic males wearing black shirts and masks grabbing the victim and dragging her from the trail during the early evening attack. They attempted to cut off her clothes with a box cutter, investigators wrote.
The victim told constable deputies that the suspects made statements such as, “We are going to make a woman out of you,” while also calling her a “lesbian.”
It wasn’t until she fought back that they disengaged and took off, leaving her with cuts and bruises.
Investigators said a witness saw the pair get out of a gold SUV before the attack and get into it after. In addition, the vehicle’s license plate was recognized by plate readers multiple times in the hour following.
Constable deputies tracked the vehicle’s ownership to a woman who told them she knew Azucena, gave him and another person a ride to the park that night, and was unaware of what happened. She said Azucena was staying with her parents at the time.
Investigators later performed a photo lineup with the victim, who identified Azucena as her former co-worker.
“She was shaking and began to cry out loud when the photo of the defendant was viewed and knew him as Josue,” documentation read. “She detailed that she used to work with the defendant and that he was a dangerous man.”
She also said before the attack, her employer instructed her to inform him that he was fired after he had not shown up at work several times. She added that he had ties to human trafficking.
Azucena was arrested at a New Caney residence and charged with the felony count.
Documents also state that Azucena isn’t cooperating with investigators regarding the second attacker, whose identity and description were not disclosed.
Azucena is due in court on Monday. He’s booked into jail on a $40,000 bond.
