A McAllen man was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting and — with the aid of another man — waterboarding a friend he believed stole from him.
The victim was left with multiple broken ribs, forcing the use of a ventilator to breathe, according to a McAllen police report.
Gran Teejai Bumagat, 35, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and unlawful restraint.
Graciela Williams, the mother of the victim in this case, Christopher Williams, told police on March 7 that her son was being beaten at a home located in the 4100 block of Bluebird Avenue in McAllen. The responding officer had spoken to the woman in response to an initial call of an aggravated robbery at that location.
According to report, Graciela told police she learned of her son’s assault after receiving a phone call from the mother of her son’s child, who claimed to have received a video call from Bumagat showing Christopher being beaten.
Having been pointed to the location of the assault, police approached the house and heard a man yelling for help from the garage, the report read.
Entering the garage, the officer — who according to the report was accompanied by Graciela — saw a man on the floor asking for medical attention. Graciela, police reported, claimed: “That’s my son.”
The man, who identified himself as Christopher Williams, had a cut on the right side of his forehead, bruises and blood on his face, and blood could be seen on the floor. The victim claimed men had broken his ribs and he couldn’t breathe.
Christopher identified his friends, Bumagat and another man named Butch, later identified as Adam George Goldstein, as the men responsible for beating him and breaking his ribs, according to the report.
The report stated that Christopher had received a call from Goldstein about needing to speak. Goldstein then drove and picked up Christopher in Bumagat’s truck, the report read.
Christopher was driven to Bumagat’s house, where he said his hands and feet were bound with electrical cord inside the garage, according to the report.
The report further stated that Christopher told police he was being beaten because they believed he stole from Bumagat’s home.
According to the report, Bumagat and Goldstein allegedly brought out a dry erase board, which listed all the things Christopher allegedly stole, and also displayed the writing “suspect still on the streets” next to Christopher’s name.
Bumagat and Goldstein are also accused of using blunt objects such as iron pipes and a car jack.
Christopher claimed the two men waterboarded him, then choked him with a wet towel.
The two men allegedly took Christopher’s wallet, keys, cellphone and a small black and gold foldable knife, the report read.
At one point, Christopher yelled for help from Bumagat’s father, who he said was present, according to the report.
Christopher told police that Bumagat and Goldstein left after two hours of being beaten.
Police eventually caught up to Bumagat that day and found a small knife matching Christopher’s description inside his pocket, the report read.
When asked why he left the residence, Bumagat claimed he went to the store with his girlfriend to pick up his vehicle from Goldstein so he could find the person who assaulted Christopher.
Bumagat was arrested for aggravated robbery, a first degree felony, and transported to jail. Christopher was transported to McAllen Medical Center.
Police also questioned Bumagat’s father, who claimed he saw the men restrain Christopher’s feet and did not call police because “he did not know what was going on and was confused,” according to the report.
Bumagat’s father was also arrested for not reporting a felony, a class A misdemeanor.
Also, police learned that Vanessa Gonzales — the mother of Christopher’s child and who told Graciela about the beating — had received a video call from Bumagat showing Christopher’s assault, the report read. Vanessa told police she screamed for the men to stop but Bumagat ended the call.
The beating left Christopher on a ventilator inside the intensive care unit of the hospital. A nurse told the officer that Christopher’s right lung was not inflating due to it being filled with blood, according to the report.
Christopher also had multiple broken ribs and an L3 lumbar fracture.
According to a supplemental police report, the incident did not meet elements of an aggravated robbery and was instead reclassified to aggravated assault. The unlawful restraint was also added.
In that report, Goldstein was also arrested on warrants for the same charges.
Bumagat remains jailed with his bonds totaling $150,000.
