San Rafael man hits pregnant woman with flashlight, tries to kidnap nursing home resident: police
FILE ART - San Rafael police car via San Rafael Facebook page
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - A 48-year-old San Rafael man has been arrested in connection with allegedly breaking into a sleeping couple's home, hitting a pregnant woman with a flashlight, biting her husband's hand and then sneaking into a nursing care facility and trying to kidnap an elderly resident, the San Rafael Police Department said Monday.
David Jonathan Margoliash was booked into Marin County Jail on felony burglary, felony assault with a deadly weapon, and felony attempted kidnapping charges and is being held without bail.
In March, Margoliash was arrested during a separate event where he was accused of dousing a mosque member with pepper spray at the Islamic Center of North Marin during Ramadan.
He pleaded guilty to that crime and is awaiting sentencing, police said.
Margoliash's most recent arrest was on Saturday about 1 a.m., when a husband who lives on Ross Street called police to say that someone had just entered his home through the back door and attacked him and his pregnant wife, before running off, police said. The wife had woken up and found Margoliash in her living room, she told police.
She screamed and woke up her husband.
Margoliash reacted by hitting her in the head with a flashlight, police said. She was able to grab the flashlight away from him and her husband got into a physical fight with Margoliash, police said.
Margoliash ended up biting the husband's hand, but the husband was able to finally get the suspect out of the house by pushing him down a flight of patio stairs, police said.
Margoliash ran away, and police couldn't find him despite sending out K-9 units to sniff him out.
Then, at 5:18 a.m., police got a call from the skilled nursing facility in the 1600 block of Fifth Avenue about a man claiming to be an employee of a transport service who wanted to take an elderly patient to Santa Rosa, police said.
The trip never happened, though, police said, because the employees didn't believe him and demanded his credentials, which he didn't have.
Margoliash then left the facility.
But two nurses had been following Margoliash, and they were able to tell police, resulting in his eventual arrest.
Once in custody, police said that Margoliash "made several incriminating statements about his actions in both cases," though they didn't elaborate.
Efforts to speak with Margoliash or determine if he had an attorney were not immediately successful on Monday.