BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
A parolee is facing new criminal charges after he grabbed a 15-year-old girl at a Redwood City tea shop and tried to pull her away, authorities said yesterday.
The teen was outside the Teaspoon tea shop at 2361 Broadway on Friday (June 18) at 6:45 p.m. when Brandon Yamagata, 35, walked up to her, grabbed her left arm and began pulling her away, according to police Lt. Casey Donovan.
Yamagata was rambling incoherently and the girl could not understand him, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
A bystander told Yamagata to leave the girl alone and she ran into the tea shop, according to Wagstaffe.
But Yamagata followed her in, and put one arm around her waist and began pulling her away again, according to Donovan, and again the bystander told Yamagata to leave the girl alone.
The girl’s father arrived at the tea shop after being at the bank across the street. Again Yamagata approached the girl, and her father intervened, Wagstaffe said.
Police arrested Yamagata a short distance away and booked him into jail on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and child molest.
Yamagata is also being charged for an incident that had occurred two days earlier when he went to the front door of a home on the 1300 block of Junipero Avenue at 10:36 p.m. and began banging on it, Wagstaffe said. The woman inside the home heard Yamagata speaking unintelligibly as he punched the door, causing damage to the home.
Yamagata appeared in court yesterday (June 21) and was charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor vandalism. Wagstaffe said he suspects Yamagata is dealing with mental health issues.
Yamagata was arrested in April 2017 in Mountain View after exposing himself and harassing women in the then OSH and REI parking lots on Charleston Road. Mountain View Police during that investigation learned Yamagata was having an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
Yamagata is in jail in lieu of $10,000 and will be back in court on June 30.
Why is this guy facing normal criminal proceedings. He should be in a ward.
I agree with Ward; so many people with mental health issues are living on the streets homeless. Our tax dollars should be spent on helping them, citizens of our Country, instead of rewarding folks who come into our Country undocumented and backgrounds unknown. Stop handing out antidepressants like candy because they aren’t affective in working thru the reason for the depression, they only make people indifferent, unconcerned, apathetic and unable to empathize with anothers situation. We have many that suffer from schizophrenia that need treatment living on our streets. They are citizens of our Country, not trash to toss out in the streets. I met a man that is homeless, use to bring him food, blankets, clothes and chat with him. I realized he had mental disorder and started researching his behavior. Schizophrenia matched his behavior. I took him in to my apt and showed him care and concern for his situation. Before I looked into his history I told a friend, “he’s kinda like a child with adult hormones.” Viewing his history that statement I made was a bullseye, straight up correct. Arresting this man and just putting him behind bars is not going to help him, nor others. My landlord was informed by a tenant I use to hang out with that I was letting him stay here 3-4 days a week. I guess people with mental illnesses lives don’t matter in this area. My landlord served me a 3 day notice to fix the problem of harboring a stranger in my apt or move out. He is not a stranger to me, he’s a friend. I don’t know the people who come and go in a couple of these apts, but there are many and don’t speak english. So undocumented folks can come and go here, but the mental disordered American citizen is barred from visiting in this building. Discrimination against mentally challenged folks is against our laws. Allowing undocumented folks into our Country is against our laws that liberals feel don’t apply to them. Adults, authority, judges, CEOs in tech world or other line, most are trash bags who serve themselves, not the people they are suppose to. Too bad the adults and adults who come into our Country illegally don’t give a shit about our rights, liberties, and freedoms that are being overstepped if ur a citizen of this Country. Wait until China controls our Country; that will stop the illegal flow of folks into any Country. Wake up people, get off ur antidepressants!
Just FYI–this guy isn’t an immigrant. He’s an American from a middle class background. I went to UC Santa Cruz with this guy in the mid 2000s, and in fact lived with him during that time. We were once friends, even. He’s most certainly lost his mind since then.