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Grandfather beaten in Campisi's parking lot

Jan 07, 2014

By: Neeha Curtis

DALLAS - A family is searching for answers after a 70-year-old Dallas man was attacked in the parking lot of a restaurant for no apparent reason.

Luis Rocha, a father, grandfather, veteran and small business owner, was trying to take home food to his sick wife when he was beaten by three suspects Sunday night in the parking lot of Campisi's on Mockingbird Lane.

Rocha was found face-down in the parking lot, semi-conscious and still holding the food when he was found.

Rocha's family says he wasn't robbed, so they can't understand why anyone would beat up at 70-year-old man.

Rocha thinks he could have been hit by a crowbar or pipe. As he was leaving the restaurant, he managed to click open his SUV, then got attacked.

Rocha's daughter, Marissa, says she didn't realize how severe her father's injuries were until she saw him.

She had a bad feeling about getting a late-night phone call from her mother about her father's attack, but nothing could prepare her for the shattered man on a ventilator who lay before her in ICU at Baylor Medical Center.

Rocha's arm, clavicle and spine are fractured, 10 ribs are broken, and his head and face, doctors told her, cracked like an egg.

"…But to be a 70-year-old man…to fracture his, you know, face and skull and arm and ribs…for what?" said Marissa. "I don't know."

Family friends have been pouring into the hospital to visit the man everyone calls Papa Rocha.

Police have not made any arrests so far, but they are searching for the suspects.

Officers also went around to local businesses in the area, checking to see if they had any surveillance cameras with video to try and identify the attackers.

Marissa believes the attackers were interrupted and took off. She prays someone saw something on that busy stretch of Mockingbird Lane.

"If somebody knew him, they wouldn't have done this," she said. "That's all I can tell you."

Read more: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/24389003/ ... z2pooiKM6p

Why do I feel that he had a lot on Florida State covering the spread (-7) in hopes of making up for his wagering losses in the fall?

Rumor is that two of the three attackers were Jack Ruby and David Stanley.

PonyTime wrote:Why do I feel that he had a lot on Florida State covering the spread (-7) in hopes of making up for his wagering losses in the fall?

+1

When I was in school there was an incident in this same parking lot. I believe a MLB ump was shot.

FriscoChuck wrote:When I was in school there was an incident in this same parking lot. I believe a MLB ump was shot.

Steve Palermo, one of the best umpires of his day.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB- ... ago-070611

FriscoChuck wrote:When I was in school there was an incident in this same parking lot. I believe a MLB ump was shot.

Yep

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-07-08/sports/1991189038_1_campisi-palermo-mann

A year or so ago there was a shootout in the Burger Street parking lot just across from Campisi's. I think it was a drug deal gone bad. Keep both eyes open if you are headed over there.

lwjr wrote:

FriscoChuck wrote:When I was in school there was an incident in this same parking lot. I believe a MLB ump was shot.

Steve Palermo, one of the best umpires of his day.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB- ... ago-070611

There were also suspicions that the Ump shooting was also tied into the gambling underworld.

1983 Cotton Bowl wrote:A year or so ago there was a shootout in the Burger Street parking lot just across from Campisi's. I think it was a drug deal gone bad. Keep both eyes open if you are headed over there.

There was big shootout a couple of years ago at the SW corner of Mockingbird and 75 were several people were killed. My point is it's Dallas, it can happen anywhere. You just have to be safe and watch your surroundings. Same as when I was in LA.

1983 Cotton Bowl wrote:A year or so ago there was a shootout in the Burger Street parking lot just across from Campisi's. I think it was a drug deal gone bad. Keep both eyes open if you are headed over there.

I watched it happen from my balcony. It was pretty crazy. One of the guys was face down in the drive through when some kids pulled up and tried to order food. They then saw the body and peeled out.

They found 30 pounds of weed in the guys apartment (which he ran back into after he got shot and was bleeding). The police literally followed his trail of blood to his door.

PonyTime wrote:

lwjr wrote:

FriscoChuck wrote:When I was in school there was an incident in this same parking lot. I believe a MLB ump was shot.

Steve Palermo, one of the best umpires of his day.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/MLB- ... ago-070611

There were also suspicions that the Ump shooting was also tied into the gambling underworld.

There were rumors that Campisis was off limits to MLB personnel back at the time of the Palermos shooting. It seems like I have read that the same was true of NFL players, but I saw plenty of Cowboys eating there back in the day.

This was not a random act of someone trying to rob someone. You don't nearly beat someone to death to steal a wallet. This was personal. Not only was he beaten, but there were bruises on his back indicating someone was stomping on his body too. Perhaps road rage delayed or revenge of some sort. Anyway, sounds like the guy was lucky (?) to live through the experience.

PK wrote:This was not a random act of someone trying to rob someone. You don't nearly beat someone to death to steal a wallet. This was personal. Not only was he beaten, but there were bruises on his back indicating someone was stomping on his body too. Perhaps road rage delayed or revenge of some sort. Anyway, sounds like the guy was lucky (?) to live through the experience.

Or a gang initiation. Stuff like that is , very sadly, reasonably common now

PK wrote:This was not a random act of someone trying to rob someone. You don't nearly beat someone to death to steal a wallet. This was personal. Not only was he beaten, but there were bruises on his back indicating someone was stomping on his body too. Perhaps road rage delayed or revenge of some sort. Anyway, sounds like the guy was lucky (?) to live through the experience.

Yeah-His vehicle, wallet, keys and iPod were all found at the scene