Surveillance video shows Wasco severed body part suspect hours before grisly incident

WASCO, Calif. (KGET) — 17 News has learned more details on a Wasco man who was arrested after reports he was carrying around and allegedly biting into what witnesses say was a severed leg.

That body part belongs to a victim hit and killed by a train near the Wasco Amtrak Station.

It’s a peculiar case involving a Wasco man some residents describe as ordinary and polite — 27-year-old Resendo Tellez.

One person 17 News spoke to said Wasco is Tellez’s town, and people know him. Residents and witnesses also said Tellez was homeless.

One Wasco resident showed 17 News where Tellez often slept, in a small doorway near Wasco Liquor. There were a few blankets on the ground. The resident said those blankets belonged to Tellez.

A nearby liquor store employee said Tellez was a regular customer who came in a few times a day, every day.

She explained Tellez never caused trouble, and he’d normally buy a mix of food, beer — whatever he could afford with what folks gave him.

The store shared security footage, where you can see Tellez visiting the store just hours before his Friday arrest. Watch the video above for more.

The employee added when she first heard the news, she thought “No, it can’t be him.”

Jose Ibarra, a construction worker, was working in the area when he saw Tellez carrying around the body part.

“And then whatever he had in his hand, he started biting in on it and everything, and it turned out to be a person’s leg,” Ibarra recalled. “On the video that we have, it shows clearly that he started chewing on the leg and everything.”

Ibarra also detailed Tellez continuously hit the leg against his work tractor and nearby walls, leaving remnants of blood.

“The guy, his blanket’s right there. He was sleeping in there,” said Blas Durán Peralta, the Wasco resident who pointed out where Tellez was staying. “When I heard the police and heard the helicopters in the air, I said something happened. Oh my gosh, something happened.”

Court records show Resendo Tellez has at least a half dozen prior misdemeanor convictions, mostly for drug or alcohol-related offenses.

Tellez is scheduled for a court appearance Tuesday in Shafter.

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said they cannot provide additional details on the case at this time. None of the residents nor witnesses 17 News spoke to could identify the victim killed by the train.

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