BERKELEY — A man has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes in the May 3 stabbing of his ex-girlfriend and a man she was with in the parking lot of the Lawrence Hall of Science, with his voice playing a key role in his being identified as a suspect, according to authorities and court records.
Other suspects are still being sought.
In addition to the attempted murder count, the suspect, Cesar Lozano, 23, of Woodland, is charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of second-degree robbery. Lozano, who was arrested May 9 in Berkeley, is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
According to authorities, the victims of the stabbings were Lozano’s ex-girlfriend and a man accompanying her.
They were attacked about 11:50 p.m. May 3 while sitting in a car parked in the Lawrence Hall of Science parking lot on Centennial Drive. Authorities have not said if they were in a relationship.
According to court documents they were “stabbed, hit and slashed by three males wearing ski masks.”
The male was stabbed about 20 times and was hit with a metal pole. He had his watch and ring stolen, police said.
The woman had her rosary necklace ripped from her neck during the attack and was slashed once on her left wrist with a knife and hit with a metal pole, the documents say. Part of the necklace was found at the scene, police said.
Both victims required hospitalization. It was not immediately known if they were still hospitalized as of Tuesday.
The documents say UC police detectives were able to establish that Lozano, the woman’s ex-boyfriend, was in Berkeley during the night of the attack, and the woman told police she recognized his voice during the attack. Police have not said if there had been prior incidents involving the two before the May 3 attack.
Police were able to obtain a probable cause arrest warrant for Lozano and two accomplices whose names have not been released.
He was arrested May 9 at a home in Woodland where he had a room. Police said in the documents they recovered the ex-girlfriend’s rosary pendant inside the room.