Worker sucker-punched outside liquor store, family says
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WINCHESTER, Calif. (KTLA) — A 68-year-old liquor store employee sustained severe injuries after someone sucker-punched him in broad daylight last month, according to the victim’s family.
The incident happened on Oct. 27 outside Sun Valley Market and Liquor in Winchester where the victim, 68-year-old Carlos Munguia, has worked for four years.
Munguia was reportedly taking out the trash with a dolly in the store’s parking lot when a man approached him. The man began talking to Munguia before sucker-punching him and running away, the surveillance video shows.
“Right now, he barely opens his eyes. There’s times that he knows who we are and days where he doesn’t know who we are,” Alma Romero, the victim’s daughter-in-law told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson. “It’s sad. We can’t talk to him or bring him home.”
After being punched in the face, Munguia can be seen in the video falling and slamming his head against the ground.
This still image from surveillance video shows part of the reported attack that left a 68-year-old man seriously injured in Riverside County on Oct. 27, 2023. (Provided to KTLA) 
This still image from surveillance video shows part of the reported attack that left a 68-year-old man seriously injured in Riverside County on Oct. 27, 2023. (Provided to KTLA)
The 68-year-old’s wife, who also works at the liquor store with him, had noticed that he’d been gone for a while. It wasn’t until a customer helped pick him up and bring him into the store that she knew something was wrong.
When questioned about what happened to him, Munguia was confused and said he fell. His family said they didn’t realize what really happened until they saw the surveillance footage.
“We don’t know what the conversation was about,” Romero said, referring to the video. “Maybe he was asking for money, but Carlos is a person that will give money to a person that needs it. If they need food, he would give it to them.”
Romero told NewsNation affiliate KTLA that her father-in-law suffered a fractured skull and brain bleeding and has a long, uncertain road to recovery.
The suspect was later identified as 25-year-old Izack Ramirez from Winchester. He was arrested by deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department a day after the assault, when authorities said they found evidence of the crime after serving a search warrant at his home.
Ramirez is facing felony charges related to the incident, including battery and inflicting great bodily injury to an elder. He has since pleaded not guilty and is due back in court Friday, Nov. 17.