Police arrested a 41-year-old man after he struggled with a Berkeley Police officer, tried to take his gun and jumped into the lagoon at Aquatic Park when the officer tried to detain him, authorities said Monday.
The officer received minor injuries during the altercation, and required medical treatment, said Officer Byron White, a Berkeley Police spokesman.
Police initially received a call Monday at 10:30 a.m. about a man on Bolivar Drive, between Bancroft Way and Addison Street, who was trying to set a fire with some type of liquid. A caller told police the man was on his or her roof, and was pouring some type of liquid into the street and lighting it on fire, authorities said.
The first officer who responded to the West Berkeley park tried to detain the man, later identified as Carlos Alberto Delagarza, said White. But he put up a struggle and the officer called for emergency assistance.
At one point, Delagarza tried to take the officer’s gun, and was on top of him during what White described as a “violent attack.”
Delagarza ultimately ran down the road and jumped into the lagoon at Aquatic Park, said White.
The officer chased the man and called for help from the Berkeley Fire Department as well. Firefighters were dispatched at 10:50 a.m., said Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb.
Authorities were able to get Delagarza out of the water and take him into custody, said White.
Webb said at least one ambulance and fire truck were dispatched to the scene. The suspect received minor injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment. One Berkeleyside reader reported a man “being taken away” from Bolivar Drive “in handcuffs on a stretcher.”
The officer went to the hospital on his own for medical care, said Webb.
The case remains under investigation, White said. As of Monday evening, the officer was “doing well,” he added.
Delagarza was arrested on suspicion of taking a firearm from a police officer, second-degree robbery, battery against an officer, battery with serious bodily injury, and attempted homicide, among other violations. (The man was identified as Juan Enriguez Ramirez by the Alameda County sheriff’s department, but police said Delagarza is the name on his driver’s license.)
He is being held without bail at Berkeley Jail and is scheduled for arraignment April 9 at 2 p.m. in Department 112 at Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.
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