Man suspected of stealing body part from crime scene appears in court
The man suspected of taking a body part from a pedestrian who was hit and killed by a train last week in Wasco appeared Wednesday in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield for the first time since being charged in the high-profile case.
Rosendo Tellez, 27, was in court for his arraignment on charges of violating his parole, which is his only felony charge after he was arrested Friday in Wasco by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
Tellez was represented Wednesday by Thurman Owen from the county Public Defender’s Office. Tellez remained quiet while proceedings in Judge David Wolf’s courtroom were delayed because of a private sidebar with the attorneys.
According to the KCSO, Tellez was arrested on suspicion of violating parole, possessing controlled substance paraphernalia and taking a body part from a place other than a cemetery.
Videos started circulating online Friday showing Tellez waving a body part as KCSO vehicles surrounded him. At least one video featured an observer saying Tellez tried to bite the body part. The event has attracted wide news attention.
According to a probable cause statement submitted by the KCSO to the court, deputies responding to the train crash saw Tellez walking around with a human foot.
Tellez removed a leg from the area where the pedestrian was hit by a train because “he thought the leg was his,” according to the probable cause statement.
Tellez was charged Tuesday by the county District Attorney’s Office with four misdemeanors: removal of human remains from other than a cemetery, disposal of human remains outside of a cemetery, destroying or concealing evidence, and resisting a peace officer. He was also charged with possessing controlled substance paraphernalia, also a misdemeanor.
His next appearance in Bakersfield is scheduled for April 10. For his misdemeanor charges, Tellez has a pretrial conference in Shafter set for April 3.