Police: Man Dressed As Woman Beats Mother With Bat
A man dressed up in women’s clothing attacked his mother with an aluminum baseball bat Monday afternoon in Las Cruces, police said.
A neighbor reported seeing a man wearing a white dress, high heels, stockings and a wig walking toward the woman’s home before hearing screams.
The neighbor immediately went to the home in the 300 block of Utah Avenue, and reported seeing the woman’s son standing over the her holding an aluminum baseball bat, police said. The neighbor yelled out and the son put away the bat. The neighbor helped the woman to her feet and to her home before calling 911.
When Las Cruces police officers arrived at the scene, they found that the man had changed into khaki pants, a white shirt and sneakers. He was spotted nearby, and the baseball bat was found near an alley just west of the mother’s home, they said.
Detectives said that the victim had not seen her son in six years but received a telephone call from her daughter on Friday saying that he mentioned he was traveling to Las Cruces to kill his mother.
The mother suffered a broken arm and was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Police said the woman’s injuries might have been worse if she had not used a chair to protect herself from at least one swing of the bat.
Christopher Castillo, 38, of San Jose, Calif., was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with bond set at $155,000.
