Berkeley Hillel arson ends in hate crime finding
David Denton faces up to three years in prison and must register as an "arson offender," the DA's office said.
A man who burned a mezuzah at a Jewish student center serving UC Berkeley was found guilty this week of arson, authorities say.
David Denton, 45, faces up to three years in prison and must register as an "arson offender," so police know where to find him, the Alameda County district attorney's office announced Tuesday after the verdict came in.
"Targeting and burning a sacred religious symbol… can cause harm far beyond the physical damage itself," said District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson in a prepared statement. "People of every faith should be able to practice their religion and gather in their communities without fear of intimidation."
Denton was initially arrested Feb. 6 after the incident outside Berkeley Hillel, at 2736 Bancroft Way.
That night, Berkeley police began getting reports at 7:20 p.m. about "some sort of disturbance" near College Avenue and Bancroft Way. A witness told police a man was bleeding outside the student center.
When officers arrived, they found the man with "a deep cut to his left eyebrow."
He told police the assailant had struck him with a rock and robbed him of his artwork down the block.
After that confrontation, police said Denton "used a pocket torch to vandalize a Jewish mezuzah scroll" at Berkeley Hillel, damaging the scroll and the building.
Emilie Raguso
Initially, the DA's office charged Denton with armed robbery (via rock), arson of an inhabited building and vandalism of religious property, according to court records.
The latter two charges included hate crime enhancements, which can lead to a stiffer sentence, records show.
The robbery charge was dropped in separate court proceedings this year.
Tuesday, an Alameda County jury found Denton guilty of arson and vandalism, and Judge Delia Trevino found the hate crime enhancements true, according to court records.
Trevino also found that Denton had been on supervised release at the time of the February crimes. That too can lead to stricter penalties.
Emilie Raguso
In the past five years alone, Denton racked up 12 other criminal cases in Alameda County, and an even longer list of arrests, according to court and public records.
Seven of the charged cases included felonies, including one other robbery case. At least one other case included misdemeanor hate crime allegations.
Many of the cases involved vandalism and trespassing charges.
In 2021, Denton committed three different antisemitic hate crimes within just 24 hours, police previously reported.
The next year, he entered an apartment building near campus and threatened residents "with a metal object that could be used to stab someone," police said at the time.
In April 2025, the court placed Denton on unsupervised probation following a misdemeanor vandalism conviction.
After Tuesday's verdict, Denton was remanded into custody, the DA's office said.
He's being held at Santa Rita Jail and is set to be sentenced Sept. 3 at the the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.
