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Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man who told friends he had beaten and burned a prostitute for ripping him off.
Garrick "Joker" Hastings said the woman had robbed him of $6,000, so he had her kidnapped and taken to a Channelview trailer where he beat "the prostitute with a metal rod, tied her up and set her on fire," according to court documents.
The woman managed to escape and go to a nearby trailer, whose resident found her naked and burned over most of her body. She is hospitalized and was put in an induced coma, with burns over 80 percent of her body, court documents say.
Hastings, 25, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Two others have been charged with assisting him: Thomas Martin, 37, faces the same charge, and Anita Pena, 37, is charged with aggravated kidnapping.
Pena allegedly grabbed the woman and held her until Hastings showed up.
Court documents say Hastings told him he needed to sell his car and get out of town because police were after him for the assault.
He also spray-painted his Crown Victoria, apparently in an effort to avoid detection.
Arson investigators said they found accelerant on shorts and panties the prostitute had been wearing.
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