Man suspected of taking human remains from Wasco train victim makes first court appearance

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The man suspected of taking a severed body part from a crash scene which he swung — and possibly bit — as he walked along a street in Wasco made his first court appearance Tuesday.

Rosendo Tellez, 27, is facing four misdemeanor counts: removing human remains from a location other than a cemetery, disposing of human remains outside of a cemetery, destroying or concealing evidence and resisting a peace officer.

Judge Marcos Camacho entered not guilty pleas on Tellez’s behalf during a brief hearing at the Shafter courthouse. Camacho told Tellez he’ll be assigned an attorney ahead of a pretrial conference scheduled for next week.

Tellez was polite throughout and thanked the judge. He’s in custody and appeared behind a window.

Tellez was arrested Friday after allegedly taking remains that belonged to a person hit and killed by a train near the Wasco Amtrak Station. Video shows Tellez swinging remains and bringing the item close to his face.

A construction worker told 17 News Tellez bit the item. Court records show Tellez, who is homeless, has at least a half dozen prior misdemeanor convictions, mostly for drug or alcohol-related offenses.

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