Police: Man Arrested For Hate Crime After Noose Hung At Berkeley Marina
BERKELEY (CBS SF) – Police in Berkeley said they arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of a hate crime after a noose was hung at the Berkeley Marina on Thursday morning.
Police said he fastened the noose from a low-hanging tree branch that was about seven feet off the ground.
A city employee spotted the man tying the noose near the South Cove of the marina shortly after 8:15 a.m. When the employee confronted the man, the suspect fled the area but not before the employee took a picture of the suspect, police said.
Shortly after, officers found the suspect walking on University Avenue and detained the suspect, identified as 32-year-old Jaime Robledo-Espino. He was arrested on suspicion of hanging a noose in a public park, which is a hate crime under California law, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
No further details about the incident were immediately available.
Robledo-Espino was being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on $15,000 bail, according to jail records. He was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning.