Mayor outraged after judge releases suspect in city security guard’s baseball bat beating

Rochester, New York – After learning that a city security guard had been assaulted with a baseball bat on Monday night and that the main suspect had been freed on her recognizance, Mayor Malik Evans vented her ire on Tuesday.

When the guard requested her party to cease playing softball and leave La Grange Park at closing time, Omayra Hulsizer, 37, is accused of hitting him. After the incident, Hulsizer was freed under pre-trial supervision in less than twenty-four hours.

Evans took issue with City Court Judge Latoya Lee’s decision to not ask her to post bail.

“I’m outraged, obviously,” Evans said. “We had a security guard last night who works to keep the city safe in a park, who was unprovoked and viciously attacked.”

The 22-year-old security guard claimed that many people had beaten him. His wounds required hospitalization.

The security guard said in court filings that he was attacked by a gang of approximately eight persons.

Following the alleged incident, the suspects drove away from the scene, according to the police.

“We believe this was an isolated incident,” Evans said. “This was an individual doing their job, and this person thankfully was able to fend off these individuals who hit him with this bat. We are obviously concerned about his safety going forward — but more importantly, we want justice for the security guard who was attacked.”

Hulsizer and Patricio Siaca, forty, were taken into custody by Rochester police in a car on Clifford Avenue.

“Individuals who perpetrate these violent incidents need to be held accountable, period,” Evans said. “We know who did this. We arrested them. Now it’s up to the criminal justice system to do its job.”

Evans nominated Lee in 2022, and both the mayor and Monroe County Executive Adam Bello have criticized her for releasing Hulsizer without needing bond.

“We did our job by arresting this individual who thought it was OK to hit an innocent security guard doing his job with a bat,” Evans said. “They should have been given bail and, more importantly, need to be brought to justice.”

Bello endorsed the mayor’s position on Twitter.

Judges must take into account an individual’s circumstances, including things like employment and local ties, while determining an individual’s bail under New York state law. Court documents state that Hulsizer works locally, has a property, and has family nearby.