Oakland police Officer Michael Ransom II wrote in a terse probable cause statement that Henry Sintay, 29, was recorded committing a strong-arm robbery of a cellphone last Saturday and Sintay confessed to the crime when he was interviewed by police.
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Prosecutors allege that Sintay, who lives in the 1300 block of East 27th Street in Oakland near Highland Hospital, has a prior felony conviction for selling or transporting marijuana in Riverside County in 2009.
The charges the Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed against Sintay on Tuesday allege that he stole a cellphone belonging to Matt Nelson.
Oakland police haven't provided any details about the incident, but Nelson said in a Facebook post that it occurred on Saturday when he used his cellphone to videotape Sintay when he asked Sintay why he threw a homeless man's belongings into Lake Merritt on Friday evening.
That incident was videotaped by another person and was posted on the Lake Neighbors Facebook group page.
Nelson alleged that Sintay, who was accompanied by another man, grabbed his cellphone on Saturday and "assaulted me multiple times." Nelson wrote that he suffered "a mild concussion, some cuts and
bruises and many sore and strained muscles."
A GoFundMe website to help the homeless man whose belongings were thrown into Lake Merritt had raised $10,731 as of 11 a.m. today, well above its $3,000 goal.
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The site was set up by Kenzie Smith, a black man who allegedly was harassed by Jennifer Schulte, a white woman, for holding a barbecue at Lake Merritt in late April.
The GoFundMe site says the homeless man is known as "Drew" and he's lived at Lake Merritt for a long time.
The site says, "We're disgusted that someone thought it was OK to treat Drew this way and want to show him through our care that what happened to him is unacceptable. It's not OK to destroy someone's things just because they are homeless. Help us show Drew that his community is here for him and that we care."
The site says the money raised will help Drew replace his belongings and "also get him a tent so he can sleep more peacefully and his belongings can be more protected."
It says, "Drew told us that would help him feel more safe after this incident."
Alameda County jail records indicate that Sintay is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin but don't say what his bail is or when he will appear in court.