(KRON) — A San Rafael man who police say pepper sprayed someone who was preparing to celebrate the first day of Ramadan was arrested on Tuesday. On Monday, the Novato Police Department got a 911 call from the California Highway Patrol.
The dispatchers learned that a member of the Islamic Center of North Marin was pepper sprayed by a suspect who potentially had a firearm in his bag. Following the assault, the suspect fled on foot, police said.
Officers arrived at the scene and set up a perimeter in the 7000 block of Redwood Boulevard. They searched for the suspect with the assistance of a CHP air unit. The victim was interviewed and treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.
The suspect, however, was not immediately located, police said.
In the victim’s account cited by police, the suspect carried a bag into the Islamic center and exposed what looked like a firearm. The victim, police said, tried to restrain the suspect to keep him from the bag.
A struggle ensued and the suspect pepper sprayed the victim, grabbed the bag and fled. Surveillance video captured the incident.
Through an investigation, officers identified the suspect as David Margoliash, 48, of San Rafael. Novato PD detectives located and arrested him on Tuesday morning. Detectives also served a search warrant as his residence.
Evidence implicating him in the crime was uncovered, although no firearm was located. Margoliash was booked into the Marin County Jail on charges of unlawful possession of pepper spray and disrupting a religious ceremony. Police say there is insufficient evidence to support a hate crime charge and it doesn’t appear the center was explicitly targeted.
Alex Baker
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