Student Attacked In S. Padre Island Relieved After Attacker Arrested
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The 21-year-old Brookhaven College student who was brutally beaten on the shores of South Padre Island is relieved that the last of his attackers was arrested this week.
Derek Madrigal says he was protecting a woman he'd met two days earlier when a group of nine men viciously beat and stabbed him on March 17.
This week, Felix Velasquez, a member of the Texas Mafia who graced the state's Top 10 Most Wanted List, was arrested in San Antonio. All suspects involved in the attack are now incarcerated.
"I'm kind of ecstatic," Madrigal said of the arrest. "Not only does this help protect me, it helps protect everyone else. Supposedly he was a dangerous guy and I'm glad they actually got him. Hopefully they can contain him."
Madrigal says his left hand is partially paralyzed, some of his abdominal muscles shifted during surgery and he sometimes has a rough time breathing thanks to a collapsed lung.
He said he's been working out and is trying his hardest to stay positive. He says he's not an angry person –– he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"It's bad that it happened to me, but there's nothing I can change about it," Madrigal said. "I was there for a reason and I'm alive for a reason."
