Man arrested in San Leandro BART station stabbing

SAN LEANDRO — A man apparently upset over not being allowed to board an out-of-service bus at the San Leandro BART station was arrested Sunday night for allegedly stabbing another man in the face, authorities said.

The 50-year-old injured man was treated at the scene for a superficial laceration and did not require hospitalization, authorities said.

The stabbing happened about 10:14 p.m. Sunday in the bus zone of the station, which is at 1401 San Leandro Blvd.

BART officials said the suspect, identified as Chinook Bacon, 35, of Hayward, was apparently upset over being denied entry onto an out-of-service bus. He had a verbal altercation with the bus driver and then attacked the 50-year-old man who was nearby, authorities said.

Bacon, who has a prior voluntary manslaughter conviction, apparently did not know the person stabbed.

Someone flagged down some San Leandro police officers making a traffic stop nearby and they arrested Bacon. A knife was recovered at the scene.

Bacon was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm and brandishing a weapon. He was being held in lieu of $35,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail pending arraignment in court on Wednesday.

According to prior media accounts and court records, Bacon was prosecuted as an adult when he was 17 years old as a result of a December 31, 2009 multi-vehicle collision in East Oakland that left a 66-year-old grandmother dead and several other people injured.

He was driving a stolen Toyota sedan at the time; when he thought he had been spotted by police, he sped off, reaching speeds in excess of 80 mph, media accounts said. Oakland police said at the time they had not actively chased him. He drove through two stop signs before colliding with a vehicle at 62nd Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. The vehicle he struck held the woman who was killed and two other occupants, who were injured. Passengers in the stolen car were also injured.

Bacon was initially charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, vehicle theft and evading police, court records say. In May of 2011 he pleaded no contest and was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and the other charges were dismissed, court records say. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.