Homeless man arrested for unprovoked assaults at library and Target in Anaheim
Photo: Ivory Julian Anderson
A homeless man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a library clerk and a Target customer for no apparent reason.
The suspect, later identified as 32-year-old Ivory Julian Anderson, was found and apprehended nearly three weeks after the incidents, which both occurred on March 3rd. He was booked at Orange County Jail for assault causing great bodily injury.
One of the assaults occurred at Anaheim Central Library. Surveillance video showed a male library clerk walking across the main entryway, when Anderson walked toward him, stepped in front of him, and then struck him once.
The clerk, whose name is not being disclosed, “fell backward, and struck his head on the tile ground, causing him to lose consciousness. He suffered a laceration to the back of his head that required transportation and treatment at a local area hospital,” said Sergeant J. Gallacher in the Anaheim Police Department press release. “The library clerk has recovered and is back at work.”
Police released the video footage of the incident to the public. They soon received information about another incident in which the same suspect committed an unprovoked assault on a stranger.
Two hours before the assault at the library, Anderson was at the Target at 101 S. Euclid Street. “In this incident, a Target customer was standing near a store cash register, when the suspect forcibly shoved the victim for no apparent reason,” said Sgt. Gallacher. “A short time later, the suspect began chasing the victim about the store.”
On March 25th, Anaheim patrol officers were in the area of Broadway and Manchester Avenue, when they noticed a man matching the assault suspect description. “The male was arrested, and detectives responded to continue the investigation. Through the investigation, the suspect admitted to both the assault at the library and at the Target store.”
