A grisly murder occurred Tuesday afternoon in front of multiple witnesses on a Warm Springs-bound BART train, and it allegedly stemmed from an attempted theft of a sleeping man's shoes.
The incident happened around 1 p.m. when a man reportedly began trying to steal another man's shoes after boarding a BART train shoeless. As Interim BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez tells ABC 7, reports began coming in of a fight in progress on the train after it left Bay Fair Station. The fight turns out to have been between the shoeless man and a good Samaritan who intervened and tried to stop him from stealing the sleeping man's shoes — and as the Chronicle reports, the man who intervened was fatally stabbed with his own knife.
The stabbing reportedly occurred as the train pulled into South Hayward Station, and the suspect fled the train shirtless and then allegedly attempted a carjacking at a nearby car dealership. As dealership employee Steve Castro tells KPIX, the suspect grabbed a set of keys out of his hand as he was attempting to show a vehicle to a customer. "I saw him and he pushed me away," Castro says. "I said, ‘Whoa! Hey bro, give me the keys back!'"
Per the Chronicle, the suspect then fled across Tennyson Road to a bus stop and was quickly arrested. KPIX says the arrested man was 39-year-old Jeremiah Brim of Sacramento, while the Chronicle has his name, via police records, as Jermaine Brim and they say he's from San Francisco. KRON 4 says his name is Jermaine Jeremiah Brim. He was booked into Santa Rita jail at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder and carjacking.
The incident shut down South Hayward Station for a time on Tuesday afternoon, and caused systemwide delays. The victim in the stabbing has not yet been publicly identified, but he's been described as a man in his 40s.
BART director Debora Allen issued a statement to KPIX saying, "I am deeply saddened by the news today of more horrible violence on BART. This is yet another reminder of BART’s urgent public safety need to address its porous system and the inadequate size of its police force."
BART General Manager Robert Powers issued his own statement saying, "We are heartbroken that a person has lost his life due to violence on one of our trains this afternoon. We extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the victim. BART is taking immediate steps to address concerns many of our riders may have as a result of the tragic death."