Police: New hate crime case for suspect who 'trashed' lobby
Dale Lipke had recently been released from jail on his own recognizance when he was arrested in Berkeley again.
A local homeless man has been charged with a late-night hate crime just weeks after wreaking havoc in a Berkeley apartment lobby, court papers show.
Dale Lipke. BPD
Police say Dale Lipke, 53, followed a man for five blocks, repeatedly yelling and chanting the N-word "while pointing two make-shift wooden daggers" at him.
When the victim, an older Black man, told Lipke to stop following him, he replied, "[N-words] don't belong here" and continued to pursue him, Berkeley police said.
The abuse began shortly after 3 a.m. Feb. 9 at a bus stop in the 3000 block of San Pablo Avenue and continued to the 3000 block of Sacramento Street, police said.
According to court papers, the Alameda County DA's office charged Lipke with a hate crime and exhibiting a deadly weapon. Both are listed as misdemeanors.
In a hearing last week, his bail was set at $5,000. As of publication time, he was no longer in custody.
Lipke is set for a pretrial hearing April 4.
Emilie Raguso
According to court records, Lipke has just one other criminal case in Alameda County.
It happened last month and took place on the same block where the alleged hate crime harassment began.
On the morning of Jan. 31, police say Lipke somehow got into the lobby of an apartment building at San Pablo and Ashby avenues and "trashed" it over about 1.5 hours.
Arriving officers found Lipke "pacing in the lobby alone wearing boxers and no shoes," according to charging papers.
They also found "an extensive amount of fresh damage including broken glass." A property manager estimated there was $3,000 to $5,000 in damage.
Building security footage showed Lipke entering the building at about 5:30 a.m. "digging through drawers and cabinets, throwing items, overturning a large planter box, drawing with a red marker on the front desk and other destructive acts."
Emilie Raguso
On Feb. 3, he was charged with misdemeanor vandalism. He was released on his own recognizance the next day.
According to court papers, the terms of his release include a stay-away order from the apartment building and prohibit Lipke from possessing "graffiti items/tools."
According to BPD data, anti-Black hate crimes are the most common category of hate crimes reported in Berkeley — both last year, when they made up 30% of the city's reports, and over the past decade, when they made up 25%.
