Authorities in Berkeley arrested a registered sex offender over the weekend after he allegedly grabbed a man and his 3-year-old daughter just south of the UC Berkeley campus.
According to a statement released by the University of California Police Department, officers on patrol Saturday, April 19, just after 5 p.m. saw the disturbance unfold.
Police said the girl and her parents had been walking on Bancroft Way near Barrow Lane, just east of Telegraph Avenue, when Lew Olive approached them and started talking to the 3-year-old.
The family tried to walk away from Olive, police said, but he “followed and grabbed both the child and the father’s arms in an attempt to pull them apart.”
The struggle lifted the child several feet off the ground, according to police.
Officers got out of a nearby patrol car, approached the group and told Olive to release the girl.
According to the police statement, Olive resisted arrest, but was restrained by UCPD officers and taken into custody.
Police said Olive has had prior arrests and is a sex offender registrant under Megan’s Law.
According to the Megan’s Law website, Olive has been in violation of his registration requirements since early February, and has no address listed on the website, where he is identified as “transient.”
According to the Megan’s Law database, Olive has prior convictions related to indecent exposure and annoying or molesting a child under 18.
Olive is in custody at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $105,000.
According to the Alameda County district attorney’s office, Olive was charged with one felony — child molesting with a prior violent sex offense, and two misdemeanors: battery and resisting arrest.
He was convicted in 2009 for failing to register as a sex offender, in 2007 for child molestation, twice in 2000 for indecent exposure, in 1988 for the sale or transportation of marijuana, and in 1985 for indecent exposure.
Olive was scheduled for an attorney and plea hearing Wednesday morning at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.
This story was updated shortly after publication to include the age of the child and additional charging information. His prior convictions were added later in the day after authorities provided that information.
Related:
Arrested man linked to 3 indecent exposure incidents (05.31.13)
Police seek help after indecent exposure arrest (05.04.13)
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