As 26-year-old Australian tourist Robert Schneider continues his struggle to recover from severe injuries suffered in a Feb. 27 attack in Ocean Beach, the two transients accused of brutally beating him with a skateboard and throwing him into a blazing fire pit were arrested in Idaho and Oregon.
Damian Maples, 21, was captured by U.S. Marshals on Monday morning as he hid under a bed at a trailer in Coolin, Idaho. Hours later, Frank Montoya, 46, was taken into custody in Eugene, Ore.
“We have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these crimes were committed and that these were the defendants that were responsible for them,” said Paul Levikow, a spokesman for the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.
Carl Gregory is a concerned San Diegan who, along with area resident Roseann Iovine, has been spearheading support efforts for the victim’s family.
Together, the pair established the Friends of Robert Schneider Fund at Wells Fargo Bank to help the family offset medical and travel costs and are organizing a fundraising dinner to be held on Sunday, April 13 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Bondi, 333 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp Quarter.
Upon hearing about Maples’ arrest, Gregory said he immediately contacted Schneider’s parents, Peter and Judy, to make sure they had heard the news.
Then Gregory reached out to Iovine.
“We were very excited,” Gregory said, but added he and Iovine didn’t want to get ahead of themselves since Montoya had not yet been caught.
Then came more good news.
“Then, not two hours later, we get another phone call that they got the second guy,”
he said. “I mean, we’re cracking champagne, all the family and us, we’re hugging. We were just ecstatic in Rob’s room. it was great.”
The manhunt for Robert Schneider’s assailants is now over. But the case was thrust into the national spotlight, prompting San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to charge the suspects with assault, battery, torture and aggravated mayhem last week ” even before either man had been taken in custody.
Both men face up to a life sentence if convicted.
The case also attracted the attention of “America’s Most Wanted” (AMW) producer Andrew Holland, who had been following the story since it broke. He said the brutality of the crime compelled him to bring it to air as quickly as possible.
Montoya and Maples were prominently featured on Saturday night’s broadcast of the Fox-TV program and on AMW’s web page as the lead story.
“When you have an Australian tourist come to San Diego and he was kind of chilling out at the fire pit and then all of a sudden just a horrific crime; it’s pretty savage,” Holland said. “We felt like Montoya and Maples, they’re bad people, and they need to be behind bars.”
In order to accurately portray Schneider’s experience, AMW shot the beauty of San Diego’s beach, surf, sand and fun, and then gave a glimpse of the seamy side of Ocean Beach nightlife.
“We spent a lot of time with the actual vagrants,” Holland said. “There’s a whole subculture issue of people down there and it’s not necessarily bag ladies and train hoppers. It’s a whole different world.”
According to Holland, the drifters act as if they own the beach and often claim it as their home.
“They confronted us when we were down there, [saying], ‘What are you doing here?’ and ‘This is invasion of property,'” he said. “Montoya and Maples thought this was their turf and [that] this was their territory. I think that what ultimately led to them [to] throwing Robert into the fire was just the power trip.”
Schneider’s story serves as a cautionary tale.
Holland said that while most the United States is safe and friendly, he added that young people who come to this country in search of fun and adventure should be on guard because there are still questionable elements.
“If we can promote that in any way,” he said, “we certainly like doing that.”
Despite the swift call-to-action of AMW, it was actually an anonymous tip to San Diego Crimestoppers that led to Maples’ arrest Monday morning in Idaho.
The San Diego Fugitive Task Force coordinated the arrest with U.S. Marshals and Maple is being detained at the Bonner County Jail.
Frank Montoya’s apparent carelessness led to his arrest in Oregon Monday night.
“That was due to the guy just being field-interviewed by the Eugene Police Department on suspicion of public drunkenness,” said Deputy U.S. Marshall Omar Castillo.
“Then they ran his ID and it immediately came up that he had a warrant out of San Diego County. The rest is history,” he said.
The suspects have the right to an extradition hearing because they were arrested out of state and the entire process could take a few months, according to authorities.
“They’ll both be back here more than likely with no problem,” Castillo said.
As for Robert Schneider, he is out of a medically induced coma and facing a lengthy recovery. While he is slowly moving forward to the best of his ability and family members are taking each moment as a blessing.
Robert Schneider suffered a serious skull fracture, deep facial lacerations, a broken right hand and 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns.
From the beginning, Peter Schneider wanted to find the man who pulled his son from the fire pit and to give him a hug, buy him a meal or talk to him.
With Gregory’s help, the emotional union took place just days ago at the Ocean Beach Soup Kitchen.
For a father who has endured such emotional pain over his son’s injuries and for Dashawn “Dee,” the 20-something homeless man who helped rescue Robert Schneider, it was a poignant moment, according to Gregory, who helped coordinate the encounter.
“There was probably about 40 to 50 homeless people just kind of milling around the outskirts [of the soup kitchen] and [Peter] and Dee were kind of just off to one side,” Gregory said.
“They stood about 20 minutes and then Peter kind of waved me over,” he said.
Peter wanted pictures taken with the man whom he considers a hero. Then Dashawn got his food but didn’t stay long.
“To me, it solidified and made it much more sincere that he [Dashawn] wasn’t out for anything,” Gregory said, “and he just kind of walked down the alley and disappeared.”
The meeting was a poignant reminder that love can triumph over hate.
“Peter came over to me when all was said and done, big tears welled up in his eyes and he’s like, ‘That’s the man that saved my son’s life,'” Gregory said.