BERKELEY — A man has been charged with assault and a hate crime in a violent attack last week on a homeless man who is a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning community, who was asleep at his camp, police and court documents said.
Court charging documents identified the suspect as 31-year-old Matthew Harris and said he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, as well as making criminal threats. Both felony counts contain a special allegation that they caused or resulted in great bodily injury.
Harris also is charged with a misdemeanor for violating the 51-year-old victim’s civil rights, which is a hate crime, authorities said.
According to court documents Harris also has a prior felony conviction of second degree commercial burglary in March 2015 for which he went to prison.
According to court documents, Harris is accused of beating the victim in the face with the victim’s own guitar while also punching and kicking him during the attack that occurred about 9:44 p.m. July 8 at the camp where the victim lived in the area of Shattuck Avenue and Blake Street. The victim told police he believed the suspect knew he was a member of the LGBTQ community and that the suspect yelled anti-LGBTQ epithets at him, according to court documents.
The victim went by ambulance to a hospital and was treated for injuries to his head an upper body, police said.
Police said Harris fled the area before officers arrived, but witnesses provided them a description and his nickname. Bike Force officers in the city recognized the description and said they were familiar with Harris, and they found him at about 10:45 a.m. July 9 and arrested him in the 2500 block of Haste Street, authorities said.
Harris has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Aug. 3. He remains in custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin and is being held without bail.
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Hate crime, assault charges in Berkeley attack - East Bay Times
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