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PD: Homeless man pushed woman into harbor

Posted at 10:13 PM, Jan 26, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-27 17:55:12-05

SAN DIEGO -- A homeless man who attacked two women as they walked along the Embarcadero last week is still in jail.

Harbor Police say Michael Roy tried to push the friends into the harbor on Jan. 21.

“Totally unprovoked," said Lieutenant James Jordan. "They didn’t know him, he didn’t know them. There was no reason for him to do that.”

Jordan says it was even more dangerous because the woman Roy pushed into the water couldn't swim.

"She was afraid," he said. "She thought she was gong to die. She was afraid for her life because she didn’t know how to swim. Not to mention the water’s cold.”

Her friend jumped in after her and they both clung to a dinghy until Harbor Police pulled them out; but just as fast as the attack, were the Good Samaritans who ran after the attacker.

Police say Roy tried pretending he was asleep on a nearby park bench as a last-ditch attempt to escape.

“He knew what he had done was wrong and he was trying to avoid us so he knew what he had done was wrong,” Jordan said.

Roy originally faced an attempted murder charge, but it has been dropped to assault. He is still in jail.

Harbor police work closely with Alpha Project, a homeless outreach program, to try to get as many of them off the streets as they can.

Police say this is an isolated incident.