Man Charged With Hate Crime After Allegedly Threatening Workers, Customers at Berkeley Bakery
BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- A man was arrested in Berkeley on a hate crime charge after threatening customers inside a bakery and making disparaging comments toward Latino workers, police said Tuesday.
Berkeley police said the incident happened on the afternoon of May 16 at the Casa Latina Bakery at 1805 San Pablo Ave. Witnesses told police the man walked into the bakery and began pointing at customers, simulating a gun in his hand, and tell them he was going to kill them.
The suspect then cursed at a staff person and made hateful comments toward people of Mexican descent, police said. After a worker asked the man to leave, he told the worker that he wanted to kill him and placed his hands inside his waistband as if he was reaching for a weapon, police said.
The man was gone by the time officers arrived. Investigators were able to identify the suspect and tell officers to be on the lookout for him. He was identified as Thomas Kravit, 60, with no known address.
On May 26, officers found Kravit at Willard Park at Derby St. and Hillegas Ave. and arrested him. On May 27, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office charged the Kravit with criminal threats and threatening a person based on their perceived characteristics, which is considered a hate crime.
The date of Kravit's court appearance was not available.
