A California man will not serve jail time after being found guilty of lighting UC Berkeley students on fire outside a tea shop.
According to The Berkeley Scanner, Brandon McGlone was convicted of “multiple felonies” in relation to that case, along with assault and gun charges stemming from a separate domestic violence case. McGlone will be made to complete a course in Veterans Treatment Court as a condition of his plea deal with the Alameda County district attorney’s office. Judge James Cramer said:
“He must successfully engage in and complete whatever course of therapy is prescribed by the treatment team and abide by whatever conditions are set forth. If he fails to do so, he could be terminated from the Veterans Treatment Court program, and sentence will be imposed.”
McGlone is set to face eight years in prison should he not uphold his end of the deal. The Berkeley Side offered a jarring detail of the incident where McGlone began setting students on fire outside of a boba tea restaurant, writing:
One of the attacks took place outside of Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, at 2590 Durant Ave. (at Bowditch Street), while two men were eating. A stranger approached them, White said in a prepared statement, “knocked their food off of the table and announced that he was going to light them on fire.” McGlone sprayed the men with WD-40, a flammable liquid, as they walked away, according to BPD.
But McGlone wasn’t done, White said. He walked to Feng Cha Teahouse, at 2528 Durant Ave., and sprayed two other people with a flammable substance, then lit it on fire, burning the men’s hair. Bystanders extinguished the flames quickly, White said, as other people subdued the assailant.
That wasn’t all, as the situation became under control, bystanders realized that McGlone was armed with an axe. Officers would go on to arrest him and find other weapons, like knives and Molotov cocktails, that McGlone had taken with him. According to court testimony, McGlone’s reason for this rampage was the following, according to an eye witness:
“If I don’t get to see my family tonight, someone else doesn’t get to see their family tonight. And I choose you.”
Prosecutor Sean Flynn noted that the victims of this attack were completely unaware that something dangerous may happen to them and that the college students had done nothing to instigate the attack:
“The victims in this case were college students trying to get something to eat. And they were subjected to something that was undeserving and pretty horrific. Some extreme levels of violence. Then, coupled with the various weapons and items Mr. McGlone had on his person throughout this incident, I think we’re fortunate that nobody was more seriously hurt.”
McGlone’s defense team argued that he suffered from PTSD stemming from his time serving as an EMT in the Air Force. He received an honorable discharge following his service. The Judge prohibited McGlone from having any contact with his wife and daughter for ten years as part of the deal.
Featured image from Berkeley Police Department.
"*" indicates required fields