Update, Feb. 6, 5:40 p.m. Police said Wednesday that the victim and his partner were walking in the 2100 block of Haste when Hogue approached them and asked the victim about his sexual orientation. According to police, Hogue then stabbed the victim. It doesn’t appear that they knew each other; police described it as “a random attack.” No information was available as to the victim’s medical condition.
Update, 7:30 p.m. Police said this incident was classified as a hate crime because there was a comment or question prior to the attack that was related to sexual orientation.
Original story, Feb. 5, 2 p.m. The Berkeley Police Department has identified the man arrested in Friday’s stabbing in downtown Berkeley as Ayo Hogue.
Hogue, 33, of Oakland was arrested after a report that a man had been stabbed while walking with a friend on Haste Street near Shattuck Avenue at about 4:40 p.m. Friday.
Hogue was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon. He was also arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department. A hate crime designation carries an additional penalty of one, two or three years in state prison, at the court’s discretion.
(Berkeleyside has requested additional information from police about why this crime was classified as a hate crime.)
According to police, the man who was stabbed was taken to the hospital for medical care, but his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. As of Monday, police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said she did not have an update on his condition.
Police said the 21-year-old victim and assailant appeared to have been strangers with no prior conflicts.
According to a commenter on Berkeleyside, identified only as “Building Resident,” the stabbing took place outside the apartment building in the 2100 block of Haste across from the Berkeley Dog & Cat Hospital.
The victim had been unlocking the front gate after returning home when he was stabbed in the abdomen, wrote the commenter, adding that the assailant had been “casually waiting” by the door and had not been provoked.
“All of us are pretty shaken up by this incident since everyone in the building uses the front door,” the commenter continued. “Any one of us could’ve been the stabbing victim. Most of residents living here are just Cal students.”
Berkeleyside has requested confirmation from police about these details.
According to the sheriff’s department, Hogue remains in custody at the Berkeley Jail with a bail of $40,000. He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m. at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland in Department 112.
Related:
Man arrested in downtown Berkeley stabbing [02.01.13]
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