Mario C Washington
OAKLAND – A man was arrested on Monday for allegedly attacking two passengers during separate incidents on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains, after he was positively identified by pictures from video surveillance cameras.
One of the victims, a man seated on a train traveling between the San Leandro and Bay Fair stations on August 3, was hit on his head by a hand tool shortly after 7:30 p.m., and then punched and kicked by his assailant. The victim was transported to a hospital for treatment of a head wound.
On August 5 at approximately 7:30 p.m., another man was punched in his face twice by the same attacker, as a train arriving from Oakland approached Embarcadero Station in downtown San Francisco. This second victim was treated for a minor injury at the station.
In both instances, the assailant fled from the trains, leaving behind shocked BART passengers.
The suspected attacker, a 42-year-old construction worker from Berkeley, Mario C. Washington was arrested on August 7 at 9:09 a.m., by Oakland and BART police officers near Broadway and Ninth Street in downtown Oakland.
Washington was picked up less than three hours after police released video surveillance pictures, seeking public assistance to identify and locate the person responsible for committing these unprovoked attacks on train passengers last week.
Someone who recognized the suspect from the pictures called the police at 8:40 a.m. to report seeing him, a few blocks away from a BART station near Oakland City Center.
Washington was booked at Glenn Dyer Jail, charged with battery on transportation worker or passenger, and assault with a deadly weapon. He’s being held at Glenn Dyer Jail, denied bail, awaiting arraignment on August 9.
