A Berkeley man on probation for elder abuse is back in custody this week facing new charges in a domestic violence stabbing on Hearst Avenue last weekend, according to court papers.
Police say Yarman Smith, 33, stabbed a woman in the hand with a kitchen knife, threatened to kill her and punched her in the head during the dispute Saturday in the 1300 block of Hearst (near Acton Street). Smith has prior convictions from 2013 that sent him to prison for pimping a minor and possession of child pornography, both of which are felonies, according to Alameda County Superior Court records.
Police were dispatched to the stabbing inside the Hearst Avenue home Saturday shortly after noon. The injured woman was treated at the scene and said she would get herself to the hospital, according to court documents. She ultimately required four stitches, police said.
Initially, according to court papers, Smith left the scene of the stabbing in his 2002 Jaguar X-Type, but police in Pittsburg detained him in it Monday using a license plate reader and subsequent traffic stop.
According to BPD, Smith identified the knife from the attack as his, during a police interview, and said “he was the only other person with the victim when this incident occurred. He said he and the victim argued and the victim must have accidentally cut herself on his knife.”
On Wednesday, the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged Smith with criminal threats and domestic violence, which are both listed as felonies. Authorities also allege that this was a violent felony that caused great bodily injury.
On Thursday, Smith entered not-guilty pleas before Judge Jacob Blea, according to court records online.
Smith’s felony elder abuse case, for which he was convicted as part of a plea deal in 2019, landed him on probation through December 2022. In 2021, the felony case was amended and reduced to a misdemeanor.
As of Friday, he remained in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with a bail of $270,000. He is scheduled for a plea hearing at Wiley Manuel Courthouse on Nov. 16.
Featured photo credit: Google Maps
