Oakland police have arrested a man in connection with two separate attacks on young children riding in strollers near Lake Merritt on Monday morning, Oct. 12. Both incidents happened shortly before 9 a.m. near Grand Avenue and Harrison Street, police said, and in one of them the man tried to take a child out of a stroller. Neither child needed medical attention.
What police say happened
According to the Oakland Police Department's preliminary investigation, as reported by CBS San Francisco, a man attacked a child in a stroller and then left on foot. Soon afterward, police said, the same man tried to remove a different child from a stroller before walking away again. Officers later arrested an adult man in connection with both incidents. Police have not released his name or said what may have motivated the attacks.
KTVU reported that both children were with adults at the time. The station said the incidents happened along the stretch of the lake next to the Cathedral of Christ the Light, across the water from Children's Fairyland.
A mother's video
The mother of one of the children posted video of the encounter on TikTok to warn other parents to be careful, KTVU reported. The accounts differ on the order of events. KTVU, citing investigators and the mother, said the man first tried to snatch her child from a stroller and then ran off and attacked a second child. The police account cited by CBS describes the attack first and the attempted removal second. Both outlets agree that the same man is suspected in both incidents and that he was arrested.
What happens next
Police have described the cases as an assault and an attempted kidnapping. As of Wednesday afternoon, the reports did not say whether the Alameda County District Attorney's Office had filed charges, and the man's name had not been released. Any charging decision rests with the DA's office.
Oakland police are asking anyone with information, including anyone who saw either incident or has video from the area that morning, to contact the department's Felony Assault Unit at 510-238-3426 or email [email protected].
Around the lake
Grand Avenue and Harrison Street meet at the lake's northwest corner, where the Cathedral of Christ the Light sits near the shoreline path, a short walk from the 19th Street BART station. Across the water is Children's Fairyland, the decades-old storybook park that recently received $5 million in state funding. Families who use the path can report suspicious behavior to Oakland police's non-emergency line, or call 911 if a crime is in progress.
We will update this story if police release the suspect's name or prosecutors announce charges. For other recent downtown Oakland public-safety news, see our report on the fatal shooting on 14th Street near Harrison.