A 38-year-old man faces multiple felony charges after authorities charged him with poisoning eight homeless people in a series of videotaped attacks last month in Orange County, California.
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The man has been accused of providing the homeless with food mixed with hot oleoresin, a chemical that is twice as strong as the pepper spray used by police. He then filmed the reactions of his victims, including an old man.
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He told some of the victims that they were participating in a “spicy food challenge” before receiving the food.
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William Robert Cable is currently being held at the Orange County Jail on a bond of $ 500,000.
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The authorities have imposed numerous criminal charges on him: one for a felony of inflicting injury on an older person, eight misdemeanors for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one offense for driving under the influence. You face a maximum of 19 years and three months in jail if convicted of all charges.
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The victims were videotaped with seizure-like symptoms, vomiting and shortness of breath, severe pain in the mouth and stomach. Several of them required hospitalization.
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Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, President of the Orange County Board of Supervisors Michelle Steel, Mayor of Huntington Beach Lyn Semeta, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates, and Huntington Beach Police Chief, Robert Handy, requested the public’s help in identifying other possible additional victims and suspects in connection with the series of poisonings that began in mid-May.
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“These humans were attacked because they are vulnerable,” said the Orange County District Attorney, Todd spitzer. “They were exploited and poisoned as part of a twisted form of entertainment, and their pain was recorded so that their attacker could relive it over and over again.”
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The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Huntington Beach Police Department are investigating whether more are responsible for the attacks on homeless people.
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Authorities indicated that many of the victims did not know that the food they were being given had been tampered with before eating it. Some received other food and beer to entice them to eat the poisoned food.
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“The cruel nature of these crimes shocks the conscience of our community”Huntington Beach Mayor Lyn Semeta said. “I am proud of the persistence of our HBPD detectives in finding those responsible for these heinous acts.”
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“The inhuman nature of crimes combined with attacking a vulnerable population shocks conscience,” stated Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy in a press release. ¨ “The fact that an adult criminal involves a minor it’s even more reprehensible. “
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