BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The man accused of biting out his 4-year-old son's eyes was not in court as scheduled Wednesday morning, because he's still hospitalized with self-inflicted injuries.

Angelo Mendoza Sr., 34, could make his first appearance in court on Friday if his medical condition permits.

Meanwhile, more acquaintances have come forward to say Mendoza's behavior changed in the weeks before he allegedly abused his son, Angelo Mendoza Jr.

Mendoza faces four felony charges for the April 28 attack on his son, who goes by the name Angel. The child told officers, "My daddy ate my eyes," and, "Daddy bit my eyes and hands," according to police reports.

Angel was discovered by a neighbor lying naked in a bloody heap on the floor of an Ohio Drive apartment. Doctors told police that the child's left eye and muscle were gone, and his right eye was damaged beyond repair.

Mendoza is in a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury. Police said he had rolled away from the complex after the alleged abuse occurred and started hacking away at his leg with an ax.

Police reported that Mendoza was showing signs of being under the influence of the psychedelic drug best known as PCP or angel dust.

For about two years, Mendoza played wheelchair basketball with Harvey Clowers, who said Mendoza once seemed enthusiastic about wheelchair sports but had recently showed a change in attitude.

"It just seems like ... he had a wild look in his eyes," Clowers said on Wednesday. "He was kind of speeding around, rolling fast and just moving around like he was under the influence of something."

Tonya Hammond, the neighbor who discovered Angel after the alleged attack, said she also noticed a change in Mendoza's behavior.

"It's just like that week he started to act different," Hammond said.

Mendoza was a Bakersfield College student as soon as last year, and Clowers said he believes Mendoza was taking classes through the adapted physical fitness program. Mendoza was working out to get ready for a cross-country bicycle ride he was planning, according to Clowers.

The child's mother, who called herself Desirae but would only speak on condition that her last name not be used, said Mendoza has been wheelchair-bound since December 2004 when he was stabbed in the back and left paralyzed from the waist down. Desirae said Mendoza had hoped to organize a bicycle ride from Disneyland to Disney World.

Clowers said Mendoza's work on a fund-raising project also seemed to change in the last month or so.

"He came to me for assistance with that, and the last three or four times that I'd seen him he was just running rampant," Clowers said. "Running pretty crazy like it seems he was under the influence or real short with things. And it seemed like he was going crazy."