A 29-year-old Berkeley man reported to have attacked a female friend with his skateboard last week is now in jail facing robbery and assault charges, authorities report.
Police were called to Berkeley Way and Sacramento Street last week Wednesday for a report of a woman who was being attacked, said Sgt. Andrew Frankel, spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department.
When officers arrived, the woman told them she had gotten into a verbal altercation with a friend. But it escalated: The man struck the woman with his skateboard, knocking her to the ground, Frankel said.
“When she got up, the suspect pushed her up against her car,” said Frankel, then “reached inside the victim’s vehicle and took her wallet and car key.”
The man proceeded to lock himself inside the car for some period of time, police said. When he got out, he “struck the windshield repeatedly with his skateboard,” then rode off on it, Frankel said.
Police identified the man as 29-year-old George Barajas, a contractor. A bit later that night, police found Barajas at his home and arrested him, without incident, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, attempted carjacking, vandalism and probation violation.
Barajas is still in custody, on $25,000 bail, at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. The Alameda County district attorney’s office charged him with second-degree robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism.
He is set for a pretrial hearing Tuesday.
