Police believe a Bakersfield man bit the eyeball out of his son's face and ate it, according to court documents. The 4-year-old's other eye was damaged beyond repair, reports said.
The boy's missing eye could not be located, reports said, and he told a detective, ''Daddy ate my eyes.''
Prosecutors have charged Angelo Vidal Mendoza Sr., 34, with mayhem, torture and child cruelty. He's being held in the downtown jail in lieu of $1 million bail.
Neighbors called police on April 28 and reported they found the child naked and bleeding on the floor of the Mendoza home on Ohio Drive, near Highway 58 and Union Avenue.
Police located the wheel-chair-bound Mendoza at a nearby house, where he had severely injured his own leg, witnesses said, by chopping at it with an ax.
The boy had severe injuries to both eyes and hands, according to a police report. He told officers, ''Daddy bit my eyes and hands.''
''It was determined Mendoza was the only person alone with his son during the time of the assault,'' the police report said.
Hospital staff told detectives the boy's ''left eye and muscle was gone and missing.''
His ''right eye was still in the socket but damaged beyond repair,'' the report said.
The boy ''later made the statement, 'Daddy ate my eyes,''' the report said.
