Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Police: Bloody stabbing suspect driven by ‘hate, homicide’
GARDEN GROVE >> A gang member who killed four people and wounded two others in random stabbings across two Southern California cities has a violent past, police said Thursday, and court records show he was free on bail for a charge last month of carrying a concealed dagger.
Zachary Castaneda “could have injured or killed many other people” had he not been arrested Wednesday after twohours of robberies and vicious knife attacks, Garden Grove police Chief Tom DaRe said Thursday.
A blood-covered Castaneda was taken into custody when he walked out of a convenience store in neighboring Santa Ana, dropping a knife and gun he had taken from a security guard he had just killed, police said.
Castaneda was kept in restraints as detectives tried to interview him.
“He remained violent with us through the night,” DaRe said. “He never told us why he did this.”
Castaneda’s long criminal record includes prison stints for possession of meth for sale while armed with an assault rifle and car theft.
His arrest last month on charges of having a concealed dagger and drug charges came while he was on bail for his June arrest on charges of street gang vandalism.
The violence appeared to be random and the only known motive seems to be “robbery, hate, homicide,” Garden Grove police Lt. Carl Whitney told reporters.
Whitney said police had previously gone to Castaneda’s Garden Grove apartment to deal with a child custody issue. The suspect’s mother had been living with him and had once asked police how she could evict her son, he said.
Court records show his wife, Yessica Rodriguez, sought a restraining order last year after she said Castaneda threw a beer can at her 16-year-old daughter. She said also sought an order against him in 2009 when he broke her arm during a fight.
Rodriguez filed for divorce earlier this year, court records show, and has custody of two sons, ages 7 and 12.
It wasn’t immediately known if Castaneda, 33, had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf for the current allegations. Public defenders who previously represented him did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
The attacker and four of the victims were described as Hispanic, while two victims were described as white, police said in a statement. Initially, all had been described as Hispanic. There was no indication this was a hate crime, DaRe said.
The two people who were wounded were expected to survive.
One of the dead was identified by his son as a hard-working immigrant originally from Romania.
Erwin Hauprich said his father, Helmuth Hauprich, 62, called him Wednesday and told him his Garden Grove apartment had been burglarized. His passport, green card, sword collection and even a dining table were taken.
Erwin Hauprich said his father never called back and he went to check on him after hearing there had been a stabbing at the complex.
A police officer told him that Helmuth Hauprich had been taken to the hospital, where he died, the son said. He said he was told his father’s roommate was killed in the apartment.
A body was removed from the complex by stretcher Thursday.
The suspect lived in the apartment complex, police said.
Erwin Hauprich said his father left Romania