Man charged with groping girl, 11, at Berkeley music club
Police say Kevin Luzzi was "fixated" on the girl, then created a mosh pit so he could get close enough to grope her, leaving bruises.
A Berkeley man has been charged with three felonies in connection with a sex crime on an 11-year-old girl at an all-ages music venue earlier this month, court papers show.
The girl was with friends at 924 Gilman on April 5 when she noticed a man, later identified as 41-year-old Kevin Luzzi, who was "fixated on her" and staring at her from across the room, witnesses told Berkeley police.
The stranger "worked his way across the room and stood next to her," police wrote in court papers. The girl repeatedly tried to move away but the man "continued to press against her."
The girl told a friend what was happening and they shielded her from Luzzi, police wrote.
Luzzi then started a mosh pit on the dance floor, and the girl was separated from the person who had been helping her stay safe.
"During the moshing, Luzzi shoved and kicked one of the witnesses, which separated them" from the girl, police wrote. "Once separated, Luzzi groped the victim's left breast over her clothing then looked at the victim and smiled before walking away."
The girl was left with four bruises consistent with finger marks on her body due to the force of the contact, BPD wrote.
Multiple witnesses later identified Luzzi as the suspect, police wrote.
One witness filmed him outside the club, and a police officer recognized him in the footage.
Luzzi was spotted "fleeing the scene" in a black truck, police wrote. Police later arrested him.
Read more about sex crimes in Berkeley.
On April 9, the Alameda County DA's office charged Luzzi with having committed a lewd act on a child, committing a forcible lewd act on a child and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, according to court records.
Kevin Luzzi. BPD
He entered not-guilty pleas the next day.
Luzzi's bail was set at $100,000, according to booking records online. He is no longer in custody, having posted it.
Luzzi has no prior criminal cases in Alameda County, according to local court records.
He is scheduled for a pretrial hearing June 10 at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
In January, a different man was arrested on suspicion of groping a 17-year-old girl at 924 Gilman. Charges have not been filed in that case, according to court records.
