Suspect charged in 'brutal' stabbing attack of elderly man in Hayward: District Attorney Pamela Price
HAYWARD, Calif. - A 23-year-old man has been charged in what prosecutors called an unprovoked, "senseless and brutal attack" on an elderly man who was stabbed multiple times in Hayward last month.
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Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price's office on Tuesday announced that prosecutors have charged James Lambert in the August 17 attack of 81-year-old Francisco Gonzalez on Whitman Street.
"Witnesses reported that Lambert stabbed the elderly man eight times in the head and proceeded to strike him with a metal pipe while he lay on the ground," the DA’s office said in a news release.
Investigators noted that an off-duty security guard came to the aid of the victim and managed to intervene and stop the assault.
The victim was rushed to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley in critical condition. On Tuesday, police told KTVU Gonzalez remained hospitalized but was in stable condition.
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The charges brought against Lambert include assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse.
"This case presents extraordinary circumstances – a senseless and brutal attack on a vulnerable victim," Price said.
She said her office was also pursuing a great bodily injury enhancement to the charges, which could add five years to the maximum nine-year prison sentence Lambert faced, if convicted.
The suspect was being held at Alameda County Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, with bail set at $100,000. He’s scheduled to appear in court for a plea hearing on Sept. 13.