OAKLAND — A 28-year-old man has been charged with beating and stabbing an 81-year-old man in a seemingly random attack in Hayward, court records show.
The suspect was wrestled into submission by several witnesses to the attack, until police arrived and detained him. After police arrived, the man allegedly said that the victim had chosen his fate, but a relative of the victim told police they had no idea who he was or why the attack occurred. Police believe the suspect may have been under the influence of a controlled substance.
The 81-year-old man was assaulted as he walked with family members on Whitman Street and Fruitwood Way in Hayward, on the evening of Aug. 17. The 28-year-old man allegedly stabbed him with a pocket knife eight times, then struck him repeatedly with a metal pipe. One of the stab wounds struck an artery, causing extreme bleeding.
The suspect was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and mayhem. But Alameda County prosecutors opted to file less serious felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, court records show.
The man is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is next due in court to enter a plea on Sept. 13. Authorities say the victim was hospitalized with serious injuries that required multiple surgeries, and suffered “serious disfigurement to his face.”