Berkeley domestic violence assault sends couple to hospital
A caller who had spent the night in the ER called police for help when she saw a woman unconscious in the roadway on Saturday morning.
Berkeley police are investigating a serious assault over the weekend that sent a young woman and her boyfriend to Highland Hospital, according to BPD and public records.
A community member leaving Alta Bates Hospital on Saturday at about 7:10 a.m. called police when she saw a woman unconscious in the street on Ashby Avenue, according to radio traffic reviewed by The Scanner.
The caller "was coming out from being in the ER all night and … saw all the commotion going on in the street," a dispatcher told officers.
Officers immediately rushed to the scene when the caller told police that a man was putting the woman into his car.
Responding officers followed the man to his destination, which turned out to be the Alta Bates emergency room entrance.
Officers quickly determined that he too had been the victim of a crime, and that the suspect — another man — was still outstanding, according to radio traffic.
Both individuals, a 24-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, had injuries to their heads and faces, Berkeley police said.
Police determined that the woman's ex-boyfriend had attacked them with a wrench, and body slammed the woman to the ground, before fleeing the scene, according to radio traffic and BPD.
There were some indications that the attack may have happened nearby in the 3000 block of Telegraph Avenue, according to initial reports.
Both patients were taken to Highland Hospital, the regional trauma center, for assessment and treatment.
No information on their conditions was available Monday.
The investigation is ongoing, BPD said.
According to Berkeley police data, domestic violence reports are essentially flat compared to last year, with 122 incidents reported through June 12 of this year compared to 118 over the same period last year.
