'There's a man with a knife': Witness recounts BART scare

An armed man was arrested after trying to shove a passenger onto the BART tracks in downtown Berkeley on Saturday night, according to a witness and police.

A local resident on his way home from a concert at The UC Theatre described the scene to The Berkeley Scanner.

He said his primary concern was the apparent lack of security and staff in the downtown Berkeley BART station on a busy Saturday night.

The witness was sitting on a bench on the platform when he looked up to see a bald man, who appeared to be unstable, attempt to shove an older man off the platform.

"Everyone jumps to their feet, alarmed," he said. "It definitely seemed like he was trying to push him onto the tracks."

There was no train approaching, but the aggression alarmed those nearby, and the situation quickly escalated.

When the witness and those around him jumped to their feet, the assailant pulled out a large knife and began to threaten the group and advance on them, he said.

The armed man appeared to be altered, potentially in a mental health crisis, the witness said.

The man wasn't moving quickly but, as the group backed away, he kept moving toward them.

The group slowly scattered and the witness tried to alert other people on the platform to the threat.

"I'm yelling at people: 'Hey, there's a man with a knife. Get outta here,'" he said. Some people listened, while others ignored him. "Some people waved me off like I was a crazy person."

The witness made his way upstairs to try to alert the station agent, but the booth was empty. A man who appeared to be a janitor pointed him toward a break room.

The witness heard "a horrible scream."

(BART said later that a woman had been treated at the scene for "a minor abrasion" but provided no other details.)

By that point, the armed man had made his way to the BART fare gates but couldn't figure out how to get past them.

"He stood at those doors banging on them and screaming," the witness said, describing it as "a slow-speed zombie situation."

The witness left the station and called 911. Within minutes, "cruisers started blowing up," arriving from the north and south. He said he counted about 20 units arriving.

Some of the officers carried long guns.

Multiple Scanner readers saw police rushing to the station, with lights and sirens, and asked TBS for details.

The witness said he did not see the arrest but heard the man "gave up immediately" when armed officers told him to surrender.

Another reader said the armed man reportedly had two knives but dropped them and cooperated when police attempted to detain him.

"It was quite a spectacle," the reader said.

The first witness said he appreciated the police response, describing the officers as professional.

"They did their job," he said. "I don't have any complaints."

But he said he had been concerned to see hardly any BART presence at such a busy station, particularly on a warm weekend night.

"They absolutely need to have a cop or two just hanging around," he said. "There was just nobody there."

He acknowledged that BART police staffing is limited but said high-traffic stations need more attention.

After the situation wrapped up, he went back downstairs to catch his train.

The platform was "crowded with drunk people," he said, "kids going up and down on electric scooters. And still no security even after all that."

BART identified the arrested man as 60-year-old Kevin Pina of Castro Valley.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, BART said. Pina did not have a BART ticket and was also issued a stay-away order from the station, authorities said.

Pina's bail was set at $30,000, with arraignment set for Wednesday, according to jail records.

As of Monday, he was no longer listed in custody.

BART did not respond to requests for a booking photograph or additional information.