Berkeley squatter allegedly terrorizes 3 workers with metal pipe inside shuttered church

A homeless squatter went from snoozing inside a church to allegedly swinging a 5-foot metal pipe at three workers who dared wake him, cops said.Donald Malone, 28, was busted after the Saturday morning confrontation at Trinity United Methodist Church near Bancroft Way and Dana Street in Berkeley.Contractors working at the long-closed church around 10:45 a.m.

when they discovered Malone inside, according to police.It wasn’t long before the confrontation turned ugly.Cellphone video from the fight showed Malone gripping the 5-foot metal pipe and aggressively yelling at the three contractors as one of them called police.“Hey! You’re acting like you’re innocent!” Malone says in the footage.“He’s approaching us,” one victim told the dispatcher.“Get away from me!” Malone yelled, according to the video, which cuts off shortly afterward.Malone then attacked the three contractors with the pipe, police said.Cops allegedly found extensive damage in the building worth an estimated $20,000.A UC Berkeley police officer happened to be driving nearby and was flagged down by the victims, Malone was then arrested.Alameda County prosecutors charged Malone with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of vandalism.Electrical equipment had been damaged, speakers were knocked over and a drum set was smashed, Berkeley police spokesman Officer Byron White said.The alleged attack happened across from UC Berkeley’s Recreational Sports Facility, the university’s main gym, during a busy move-in weekend for Cal students.Malone has a prior assault conviction, according to court records.The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed a petition Tuesday to revoke his probation....