A 28-year-old man is facing three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of vandalism after he allegedly attacked three contractors with a 5-foot metal pipe outside a shuttered Berkeley church last Saturday morning. Police say Donald Malone had been sleeping inside Trinity United Methodist Church near Bancroft Way and Dana Street when contractors doing property work discovered someone had broken in and asked him to leave.
According to KTVU, the confrontation unfolded around 10:45 AM last Saturday, when Malone refused to leave the property and instead attacked the contractors with the pipe. One victim called a dispatcher to report that Malone was approaching them, and the workers ultimately flagged down a UC Berkeley police officer for help, KTVU reports. Malone was arrested after a struggle, according to the outlet's reporting.
Berkeley police officer Byron White said the suspect attacked the contractors after refusing to leave, per the same account. Malone reportedly yelled “Get away from me!” at the workers, and at another point shouted, “Hey! You're acting like you're innocent!” and “You already kicked me out! I was asleep!” Police said Malone held the pipe as he yelled at the three contractors working on the church property.
Extensive Damage Inside the Closed Sanctuary
Police estimate Malone caused about $20,000 in damage to the church, including broken electric equipment, knocked-over speakers, and a smashed drum set, the station's report notes. Contractors called police once they realized the extent of the break-in and damage before the confrontation escalated.
Trinity United Methodist Church at 2362 Bancroft Way was designated a candidate for Berkeley landmark status in 1999, but the regional conference officially closed the congregation in 2020 amid financial and facility challenges, according to the City of Berkeley. The building's basement once housed the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant starting in 1982 and the Berkeley Free Clinic from 1970 until it relocated in 2025, per Berkeleyside. Commercial listings now market the 1.26-acre site as an opportunistic redevelopment opportunity near campus, with plans anticipating up to 135 student housing units, according to Berkadia — which explains why contractors were on site conducting property work when the confrontation occurred.
A High-Visibility Corridor During Move-In Weekend
The attack happened directly across Bancroft Way from UC Berkeley's Recreational Sports Facility, the university's main gym, during a busy move-in weekend when thousands of incoming students and families were arriving in the Southside neighborhood. Court records show Malone has a prior assault conviction, KTVU reports, and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed a petition on Tuesday to revoke his probation.
Cyrus Andaz said the incident highlighted a distinction between homelessness and threatening behavior, according to the outlet's reporting. Under California Penal Code Section 1203.2, prosecutors can seek to revoke probation based on a preponderance of the evidence rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a lower threshold than a criminal trial, according to Shouse Law Group.
Potential Prison Exposure Under State Law
Assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm is a wobbler under California Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) that, when charged as a felony, carries a potential sentence of two, three, or four years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to Eisner Gorin LLP. Separately, property damage of $400 or more can be charged as felony vandalism under Penal Code Section 594, carrying up to three years in state prison and fines that can reach $50,000 when damage exceeds $10,000, per Wallin & Klarich. With an estimated $20,000 in damage at the church, Malone's vandalism charge falls well within that higher fine range, and a felony conviction would also allow a court to order full restitution to the property.
The case adds to a string of recent criminal prosecutions along the same stretch of Bancroft Way. Earlier this month, an Alameda County jury convicted a 45-year-old Berkeley man of felony arson for setting fire to a mezuzah scroll at Berkeley Hillel down the block at 2736 Bancroft Way, a case Hoodline previously reported carries its own sentencing hearing set for September 3.
Rising Assaults Amid a Broader Crime Drop
Annual Berkeley Police Department statistics released in March showed that while overall crime in the city dropped 11% in 2025, aggravated assault cases rose 16%, climbing from 482 reported incidents in 2024 to 561 in 2025, Berkeleyside reported. That local trend mirrors a statewide pattern: data from the Public Policy Institute of California published in 2025 found that while California's overall violent crime rate dropped 5.3% in 2024, aggravated assault rates remained 22% higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels statewide.
