A homeless man with a history of violent crime was charged Sunday with several counts of murder and another one of attempted murder in connection with brutal weekend attacks that left four homeless men dead in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City, USA Today reports. Police said Randy Rodriguez Santos, 24, bludgeoned the men with a metal rod while they were sleeping. They were found with similar head injuries in three sections of Chinatown early Saturday morning and pronounced dead at the scene. A fifth survived and was hospitalized in critical condition. The assaults left blood splattered on the doorways and sidewalks where the men had been sleeping, including The Bowery, a nighttime sleeping area for homeless people.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez Santos was shown video of the assaults during an interrogation and acknowledged he was the person in the video. Police responded to a 911 call just before 2 a.m. as one assault was in progress. Witnesses told officers they saw a man wearing black pants and a black jacket repeatedly hitting one of the victims in the head with a metal object, Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes said. After a search, officers apprehended Rodriguez Santos, who fit that description and was carrying a metal bar that prosecutors said was covered in blood and hair. Police said he has undergone a psychiatric evaluation. Rodriguez Santos has been arrested at least six other times in the past two years, three times on assault charges.