Three suspects have been charged with attempted murder for allegedly fighting with two Alameda County sheriff's deputies in Castro Valley on Saturday night after the deputies tried to break up a fight, prosecutors said.
Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said the deputies responded at about 11 p.m. Saturday to a disturbance call at an apartment in the 2400 block of Grove Way where they found two men involved in a fight.
Kelly said the deputies ordered the two men to break up the fight and to get on the ground but the men refused and instead turned their aggression toward the deputies.
One of the men, 21-year-old Keith Carter, punched one of the deputies in the face and knocked him to the ground, according to Kelly. Carter then lunged at the second deputy and put him in a chokehold, nearly choked him unconscious and tried to gouge his eye out, Kelly said.
The second male suspect, 28-year-old dockworker Willie Tinoifili, and a woman at the scene, 26-year-old Kelly Carter, Keith Carter's sister and Tinoifili's spouse, also attacked the deputies, according to Kelly.
The first deputy was able to get back up and help his partner, using a Taser on Keith Carter to subdue him, Kelly said.
Additional deputies arrived on the scene and all three suspects were taken into custody, Kelly said.
Tinoifili, Keith Carter and Kelly Carter are all charged with one count of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a peace officer and resisting an officer. Keith Carter is also charged with attempted mayhem.
In addition, prosecutors allege that Tinoifili has a prior felony conviction for first-degree robbery of a transit passenger in 2007, which could increase his state prison term if he's convicted.
They allege that he violated the terms of his probation for his 2012 misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Alameda County sheriff's Deputy Christopher Haendel wrote in a probable cause statement that Keith Carter placed one of the deputies in a headlock, causing the deputy to start to lose consciousness. Haendel said he believes Carter "could have seriously injured or caused death to the deputy" if the other deputy hadn't used a collapsible baton to release Carter's hold of the first deputy's neck.
Haendel said that when the deputies arrived at the scene, Kelly Carter, also known as Terina Sau Tinoifili, "was hysterical and had blood on her chest."
Carter was placed in handcuffs, but while the deputies were trying to restrain Keith Carter and Willie Tinoifili she ran up on one of the deputies and kicked him multiple times, Haendel said.
The force of her kick caused one of the other suspects to be freed from the deputies, Haendel said.
The three suspects were arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on Tuesday and were scheduled to return to court today to be assigned attorneys and possibly enter pleas.
Kelly said one of the deputies had his facial bones shattered in the incident and likely will require reconstructive surgery and have to be out of work for several months.
He said the other deputy suffered cuts, bruises and abrasions but probably will be able to return to work next week.
--By Bay City News
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