Photo: Stock Image
By Jim Emerson
BERKELEY — Police arrested a fisherman for allegedly stabbing a windsurfer during a fracas
at Shorebird Park. The suspect is 31-year-old Jimmy Ray Ellis, a resident of Hercules with
prior run-ins with the law on record.
Police responded to a report of a stabbing on Seawall Drive at the south end of the park. The
violent attack occurred outside a vacant restaurant property on Sept. 1 at approximately
3 p.m. The victim, a man in his 50s required, medical treatment at hospital. His shoulder stab
wound was reportedly “non-life-threatening.”
Responding officers observed the suspected perpetrator fleeing from the waterfront area. Ellis
was detained on University Avenue without further incident. Arrested on suspicion of assault
with a deadly weapon PC 245(A), Ellis has since posted bond and he is no longer in custody.
Investigators learned that an argument between the two men escalated to violence. It
happened after the windsurfer’s equipment became entangled with the fisherman’s line. The
suspect’s fishing rod was lost and drifted away in San Francisco Bay. Their violent
confrontation erupted when the windsurfer returned to the shore, where the fisherman was
waiting for him.
Ellis has had prior contacts with law enforcement. He was arrested in January for disobeying
a domestic relations court order in Contra Costa County. Richmond police arrested him in
2015 for robbery, receiving stolen property, and firearms-related charges. In 2014, Richmond
PD arrested Ellis for domestic violence.
