Police: Illegal migrant charged in two Troy assaults
An illegal migrant is accused of assaulting two people in Troy and trying to escape police custody.
Albino Zacarias-Garcia, 24, is facing multiple charges including attempted murder. Police said Zacarias-Garcia assaulted a 65-year-old victim on March 31 around 1 p.m. in an alleyway near 2nd Street and Harrison Street. He then ran away. The victim was treated at the hospital.
On Wednesday, police saw a suspect matching the description, later identified as Zacarias-Garcia, in the area of Vandeburgh Avenue and Lark Street. He ran into a wooded area, but was caught a short time later, according to police.
Zacarias-Garcia told police that he only ran because he was in the United States illegally, police said. He also confessed to another assault that took place on March 26 in South Troy near the railroad tracks. A 46-year-old victim was hurt and treated at the hospital. Police believe that Zacarias-Garcia used a knife in both assaults.
While at the police station being booked, police said he was in an interview room alone with a leg shackle attached to the floor. Zacarias-Garcia allegedly used a paper clip to try to pick the lock of his shackle. Detectives saw him on the live video attempting to bypass the lock and went into the room to stop him.
Police contacted the Department of Homeland Security Investigations about his admission of being in the country illegally.
Zacarias-Garcia was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, assault and attempted murder. He was arraigned in Troy City Court and sent to Rensselaer County Jail.