Witnesses help stop attack on homeless woman and detain suspect, Davis police say
Officers in Davis on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of beating a homeless woman in front of witnesses who stopped him from injuring her further and detained him, police said.
The incident was reported as an assault in-progress around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday along Chiles Road near a Nugget Market grocery store, the Davis Police Department announced in a social media post Tuesday afternoon.
Officers arrived and found the injured 59-year-old woman “who had been badly and violently beaten,” police said. She was found with serious injuries to her face and head.
The suspect, later identified as Joseph Granken, had been detained at the scene by witnesses. People intervened to stop Granken from continuing to beat the woman, police said.
Granken assaulted one of the bystanders who intervened while trying to protect the woman, according to police. Granken was arrested on suspicion of felony assault charges and booked at the Yolo County Jail.
The injured woman was taken by ambulance to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she was being treated Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators asked anyone with information about this assault to call the Davis Police Department Investigations Unit at 530-747-5400.
