California police have arrested a man for allegedly entering a semi truck and beating the sleeping driver.
The incident began with an attack on a truck driver around 4:30 a.m. June 14, 2018 on Weller Street in Petaluma, California. Five hours later, the suspect was found and arrested in the Petaluma River.
According to a news release from the Petaluma Police Department, the incident began when a 65 year old truck driver was woken from his sleep by someone banging on the door of his truck.
From Petaluma police:
“The truck driver from Hollister California reported to officers he had parked on Weller St. at approximately 9:30 PM and was asleep when someone banged on the door of his semi-truck. The person banging on the door was described as a black male, no shirt with a large build. When he opened the door to see what the person wanted he was struck on the right forearm with a blunt instrument. The black male then entered the cab of the truck and began beating the truck driver with his fists causing numerous injuries to the truck driver’s arms which he was using to protect himself.
After initially attacking the driver the person began destroying the inside of the cab throwing items from the inside of the cab outside. Prior to exiting the truck he attacked the driver one more time again striking him several times with his fists. After this the attacker left in an unknown direction.
When officers arrived on scene they saw the person attacked had injuries to his arms and blood on his shirt and face. They spoke with the victim and he described the black male that attacked him as being crazy. The victim was transported to Petaluma Valley Hospital for treatment to his injuries which were cuts and abrasions to his arms.
While at Petaluma Valley Hospital officers had the victim review a photo line-up based on the description of the attacker matching that of a subject officers had dealt with the day before. That subjects name was Damion Grissom. The victim was unable to identify Grissom from the photo line-up as the attacker.
At 9:14 AM almost 5 hours Petaluma Police Dispatch received a call that a black male later identified as Damion Grissom was standing in the Petaluma River under the D St. Bridge and had been under there for about an hour. This is approximately 200 yards from where the earlier attack occurred and the description of the person in the river matched that of the attacker in the earlier incident.
Officers arrived on scene and spoke with Grissom in an attempt to get him to come toward the shore and from under the bridge. A life jacket was thrown to Grissom to assist him with swimming toward shore. He grabbed the life jacket and swam toward officers who were waiting for him. Grissom did not have any clothes on and appeared to be mildly hypothermic. He was transported to Petaluma Valley Hospital for evaluation.
Officers in an attempt to locate evidence of the attacker processed the inside of the victim’s semi-truck. While processing the cab a wallet covered with heavy tape was located inside the cab between seats. Inside the wallet was Damion Grissom’s identification card. Grissom was placed under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse. After being cleared from the hospital he was transported to Sonoma County Jail.”
Grissom was held on a $30,000 bond and is set to appear in Sonoma County Superior Court on Monday.