RODEO — A 38-year-old man was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of biting and punching his girlfriend in an attack where he also allegedly waved a meat cleaver and claimed to have killed before.
The 38-year-old man was arrested in Richmond, but police say that he was living at an encampment in Rodeo, near the Willow Avenue onramp for Interstate 80. Another man who lived in a tent next door reportedly told police that the suspect brandished a six-inch meat cleaver and yelled about how he’d killed someone before.
During the attack, the suspect allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face a half-dozen times, then bit her leg. Police say the witness intervened and got between the two of them, and that the suspect fled thereafter.
Contra Costa Sheriff’s deputies spoke to multiple eyewitnesses who identified the same man as the attacker. He was arrested last week in Richmond, but released after a 72-hour hold at the jail, records show. No charges have been filed yet against him.