Man freed on probation charged in local attacks

BERKELEY >> A man freed on probation in January after a plea bargain in a sexual battery case has been charged in attacks on two people downtown June 17: a woman punched in the face during a robbery and a 78-year-old man hit with a blunt object, according to authorities and court records.

Chiazo Onwuasoeze Jr., 34, is charged with two felony counts: elder abuse and second-degree robbery. He also is charged with a misdemeanor count of vandalism for less than $400. The counts include an enhancement allegation that he was on probation when the crimes occurred.

He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail for violating probation and in lieu of $107,000 bail for the June 17 charges. He is scheduled to enter a plea July 6.

According to court records, about 12:13 p.m. June 17, Onwuasoeze is suspected of robbing a 32-year-old Rodeo woman of her phone and glasses inside of a McDonald's restaurant at 1998 Shattuck Avenue.

When the woman grabbed Onwuasoeze, he punched her in the face with his right hand one or two times before the woman punched him back and he fled the scene, the records said.

The woman chased Onwuasoeze toward Shattuck Avenue and Delaware Street. While fleeing from the woman, Onwuasoeze threw an A-frame sign on the ground in front of her to try to block her path. The victim's phone was recovered at the scene, but her glasses were not.

About 10 minutes later, Onwuasoeze entered a cupcake shop at 1690 Shattuck Avenue and broke a trash can and hand sanitizer dispenser, the records said.

Then, on the same block, Onwuasoeze allegedly assaulted the 78-year-old man, a random bystander, with a construction hard hat, the records said. The man sustained a laceration near his left eye and broken blood vessels in the same eye, police said.

Onwuasoeze then threw a brick at the tail lamp of a passing car on Francisco Street and Shattuck Avenue, the records said.

Berkeley police officers detained Onwuasoeze on Francisco Street west of Shattuck Avenue about 12:28 p.m. because he matched the description of the suspect. The man who was assaulted, the woman who was robbed and the owner of the car that was vandalized all positively identified him at the scene and he was arrested.

According to authorities and court records, on Jan. 31 Onwuasoeze was placed on probation after a plea bargain in a Jan. 10 case where he was arrested for touching a woman's chest as she stood in the doorway of a Berkeley apartment building on Delaware Street. When the victim, who is in her 20s, told the man she was calling the police, he backed away. When officers arrived, they found Onwuasoeze still outside the apartment building and arrested him. Police also found three debit or credit cards in his possession that were not his.

He was charged Jan. 11 with sexual battery and fraudulent possession of personal information, both misdemeanors, according to court records. On Jan. 31, he entered a no-contest plea to a different misdemeanor charge — assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. He was convicted of that and the other two charges were dismissed. He was placed on probation until January 2023 and released from custody.

According to court records, Onwuasoeze has a prior felony conviction in May 2012 in San Diego County for battery with injury on emergency personnel. He went to prison in that case.