When they met Luke Petruschke at a homeless shelter, Krish Carter and his wife, Dawn Dwyer-Carter, didn't know he had been arrested twice on sex-crime charges.

They became good friends, she said, and introduced him to their new neighbor, Manuel Vega, at a Labor Day barbecue this year.

Saturday, Carter and Vega beat Petruschke almost to death with concrete blocks and rocks, Davie police said, after Vega's 3-year-old son told his father that Petruschke had fondled him.

The three men had planned to go fishing that day. Instead, Petruschke ended up in a coma and the other two in jail.

Petruschke, 38, spent Friday night at Vega's home in the 5100 block of Davie Road after having dinner with the family, police said. The next morning, after the boy made his allegation, a witness saw neighbors Vega, 27, and Carter, 43, smash Petruschke's car windows with concrete blocks, drag him out and beat him, police said.

Vega and Carter were held without bail Monday in the Broward Main Jail. Each faces one count of attempted murder.

Vega's anger was completely justified, said Dawn Dwyer-Carter. And she said she understood why her husband got involved. ``I'm not surprised he got in the middle of it -- he's a father, too,'' she said.

She and her husband met Petruschke at a Fort Lauderdale homeless shelter where they lived two years ago, she said. But she never imagined Petruschke would be accused of molesting a child.

``It's a shock that somebody of his character could do something like that,'' Dwyer-Carter said of the accusations. ``Anytime I needed help, he would be the first to jump up and help.''

Petruschke was between jobs, but had just gotten a commercial driver's license to work as a truck driver, she said. Court records show he had been arrested twice before on sex-related charges, but never convicted.

If Petruschke survives, police plan to arrest him on molestation charges, Davie police Sgt. Greg Gasse said.

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