A man authorities say hung a noose from a tree at the Berkeley Marina last week has been charged with a hate crime.
Berkeley police said the crime happened Thursday just before 8:20 a.m. A city staffer saw the man “tying a noose with some rope in the marina (near the South Cove). When the staff member confronted the man about the noose, the man fastened the noose to a low-hanging tree branch (about 7’ high) and fled the area,” BPD said in a prepared statement Friday.
Police said the city worker was able to photograph the man as he fled from the Berkeley Marina, and gave this evidence to officers who responded.
Police said they found the man — identified as 32-year-old Jaime Robledo-Espino (no permanent address) — walking on University Avenue and arrested him on suspicion of hanging a noose in a public park and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Friday, the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Robledo-Espino with the hate crime of terrorism in connection with the noose. The crime is listed as a misdemeanor.
Robledo-Espino has not previously been charged with any crimes in Alameda County, according to court records online.
He remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is scheduled for arraignment Tuesday at the East County Hall of Justice, according to jail records online.
CORRECTION: This story originally misstated the location of this incident. It has been fixed.
