Riverside police investigating after family says 60-year-old mother was brutally attacked at park

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- Riverside police are investigating a possible assault after a 60-year-old woman was found with multiple injuries and semi-conscious at Doty Trust Park Friday evening.

The family of Susan Wagner believe she was beaten and left for dead.

"She is going to be disfigured for life, possibly deaf out of the right ear because it exploded outwards. Her eyes are swollen shut. Her head is all shaped wrong," said Wagner's son, Chase Wagner.

Just after 8 p.m. on Friday, Wagner said his mother went out for a walk in their neighborhood near the park. He said his mother suffers from a mental disorder and is disabled.

He said sometime after 11:30 p.m. a neighbor discovered his mother on the sidewalk badly beaten and barely alive.

"This was a heinous crime whoever did this has no regard for human life," Wagner said.

The Riverside Police Department can't confirm if Wagner suffered a serious fall or was assaulted, but doctors told investigators her injuries were consistent with a beating.

A neighbor who lives near the park but asked not be identified told Eyewitness News she encountered the victim as she was coming up Friday evening.

"I was trying to come home and she looked a little disorientated. She didn't let me go up the street. So, I avoided confrontation and I backed my car up," said the neighbor.

After 20 minutes, the neighbor said she returned home and saw Wagner appearing to be laying down on the sidewalk asleep. Later that night, she said police knocked on her door asking to view her security camera footage.

"After checking my cameras, I saw that two guys walked up and walked down around that same time period that she was up here and also two cars went up really fast and then down really fast," said the neighbor.

The park also has surveillance camera, but it appears the ones closest to the where the incident happened were not working at the time.

"This is unacceptable. Why do you have cameras here if they are not going to work and be able to protect the citizens that pay into this community," said Wagner's son, Chase.

He said his mother suffered a brain bleed, fractured skull, neck and ribs and remains in critical condition. He is hopeful someone saw or heard something and will share it with police.

"If anyone can step forward, anything helps. I mean, this could have been anybody's mother, or daughter or family member just walking through," he said.

Monday morning, news of the alleged attack had walkers and hikers at Doty Trust Park on edge.

"Today, I was just looking what was next to me and stuff, making sure nobody was going to attack me," said Fernando Merez.

Investigators want to speak with anyone who was at the park Friday evening. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Riverside Police Department.