Man Assaults 3 in Irvington; Arrest Made (Updated)

A man assaulted three people at the Safeway Store at 5 Corners around 1:10 this afternoon before being apprehended at Fremont and Chapel.  He possibly sustained a dog bite during the arrest and paramedics were called for him.  Several people called police to report that a man on a bicycle had punched a Safeway employee, then shoved another person to the ground causing serious bleeding.  Paramedics were called for those two.   A third victim reported an assault but did not require medical aid and was now at home.  The man fled on a bicycle towards Fremont Blvd.  Based on the description given, officers had a good idea of who the suspect may be, an apparent transient male.  Officers rolled in code 3 as reports came in of multiple victims.  One of the responding officers spotted the suspect at Fremont and Chapel, but the suspect fled on his bicycle.  Within a minute he was detained, likely with the help of the K-9 unit.  From radio reports there were no weapons used- just his hands.

FPD news release:

On Monday, May 11th, at approximately 1:09PM, employees at the Irvington Safeway called about a suspect who punched an employee in the face and fled the store on a bicycle.  As officers were responding, 2 additional victims reported being struck in the face by the same suspect.  All 3 victims required medical attention for their injuries.  All 3 victims did not know the suspect, and stated that the suspect punched them in their faces for no apparent reason.

A K9 officer located the suspect in the area of Fremont Bl. and Chapel Wy.  The suspect fled from the K9 officer and refused to follow commands.  The officer deployed his K9 who engaged the suspect until officers could safely detain him.

37 year old Marcell Washington, a transient out of San Jose, was arrested for 2 counts of felony battery, misdemeanor battery, and resisting arrest.  He was booked into Santa Rita Jail.

Over the past several days, Washington has been arrested/cited by patrol for four other unrelated cases including several theft cases, and several theft/robbery cases.  Washington had been booked into the Fremont Jail on May 9th and remained in custody until the morning of May 11th, when the District Attorney’s office charged him with 1 count of robbery.  He was then released from custody with a future court date.  Washington then engaged in this series of battery incidents which resulted in another arrest and booking.   

The victims in this incident were treated at the scene by Paramedics and released.