Fresno man with gang ties leaves Australian visitor in coma, police say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An Australian father is distraught because he says the person who attacked his son and put him in a coma should not be a free man.

26-year-old Robert Scott loved to travel. "He was a good kid, very talented, he was very athletic, he was a good student," said Stephen Scott.

Scott told us his son is now confined to a hospital bed with serious brain injuries. He flew to Fresno and spent seven weeks by his youngest son's bedside. He's angry at the person who hurt him. He said, "You have a thug with a criminal record hit someone who had his hands out and say I don't want any trouble backing away and he's being sucker punched."

Robert's father says on August 17th his son and a friend were in this neighborhood when they saw a car parked with a woman inside. According to at least one witness they asked her if she was okay when a man named Gilbert Romero showed up and punched him in the face.

"He fled as soon as he hit Robert. If he had nothing to answer for he could have stayed," said Scott.

Police say Romero is linked to the Bulldog gang and has a prior DUI conviction. They arrested him eight days later. "We then served a search warrant and briefed the U.S. Marshall task force," added Lt. Mark Salazar.

So far the district attorney's office has not charged Romero with any crimes and he's no longer in jail. The DA's office declined to comment but police tell Action News Robert Scott was intoxicated.

"The DA's office wanted more work to be done. One of them was to get the medical records from the hospital, we did that. We got those results today and Robert's BAC (blood alcohol content) was .24 so he was pretty drunk," said Lt. Salazar,

Detectives say it's unclear exactly who started the fight but the Scott family wants charges filed fast because of his extensive injuries.

Gilbert Romero's family says he acted in self-defense.

Fresno police are currently working on a more detailed report. It will be up to the DA's office to decide if any charges will be filed.