A 28-year-old homeless man was arrested after allegedly attacking three contractors with a 5-foot metal pipe inside a shuttered Berkeley church.
Donald Malone, 28, was busted following the Saturday morning confrontation at Trinity United Methodist Church near the intersection of Bancroft Way and Dana Street, according to police. The contractors had arrived around 10:45 a.m. To work at the long-closed church when they discovered Malone sleeping inside.
The situation escalated rapidly after the workers woke him. Cellphone video recorded by one of the victims captured Malone gripping the metal pipe and aggressively yelling at the three men as one of them called police.
“Hey! You’re acting like you’re innocent!” Malone says in the footage.
“He’s approaching us,” one victim told the dispatcher during the call.
“Get away from me!” Malone yelled, according to the video, which cuts off shortly afterward.
Malone then attacked the three contractors with the pipe, police said. A UC Berkeley police officer happened to be driving nearby and was flagged down by the victims, leading to Malone’s arrest.
The aftermath revealed extensive damage throughout the building. Cops allegedly found destruction worth an estimated $20,000. Electrical equipment had been damaged, speakers were knocked over and a drum set was smashed, Berkeley police spokesman Officer Byron White said.
Alameda County prosecutors charged Malone with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of vandalism. The alleged attack happened across from UC Berkeley’s Recreational Sports Facility, the university’s main gym, during a busy move-in weekend for Cal students.
Malone has a prior assault conviction, according to court records. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed a petition Tuesday to revoke his probation.
In the viral moment that preceded the arrest, the contractors had entered the church expecting a routine workday only to find an intruder who would turn violent. The cellphone footage documented the tense standoff as Malone brandished the pipe and challenged the workers, who tried to keep their distance while summoning help. The video’s abrupt cutoff left the moments of the alleged physical attack unseen, but police said Malone struck all three men with the weapon before the officer’s fortuitous arrival.
The case has drawn attention to safety concerns for workers at vacant properties and the broader challenges of homeless individuals occupying shuttered buildings. Trinity United Methodist Church, located in a high-traffic area near the UC Berkeley campus, had been closed for an extended period before the contractors began their work.
Malone remains in custody facing multiple felony charges as prosecutors seek to revoke his probation from the prior assault case.