Woman attacked in apparent knockout game assault on Heights Blvd.
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman was ambushed from behind while walking on a sidewalk in the Heights in what may have been the latest incident of the knockout game.
Linda Bustamante, 67, says she went from a casual stroll to face-down and bleeding on the sidewalk in an instant.
"It was a vicious push. I was terrified and I don't get terrified," Bustamante told Eyewitness News.
She now has a busted lip, broken teeth and bruises -- the result of an unprovoked attack.
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"This was no accident," she said.
Bustamante had just left the library Thursday afternoon around 1:20 and was walking north on the sidewalk along Heights Blvd near 14th Street. She noticed two young men; one was white and the other possibly Hispanic.
Then, she was smacked from behind.
"It was so swift. It takes your breath away how fast you can be jumped and not even know it."
The two guys took off. A woman stopped to help her, and they called Houston Police and then her daughter.
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"They didn't take her purse. They didn't take her phone. They did it just to do it and they left," Justine Bustamante said. "It's cowardice at its finest."
Videos of similar unprovoked attacks can be found online. The suspects allegedly get points for punches. Three weeks ago, Sydney St. Jules was charged with assault, accused of hitting a woman in downtown Houston. Officers then suspected the knockout game.
"I don't know who's the winner and what the winner gets, but this is a fatal game for some of us," Bustamante said.
She fears another senior will be attacked and the injuries will be worse. She wants her story to be a warning and hopes it leads to arrests.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers or Houston police.
