Small-town California mayor allegedly sucker-punched by homeless man near congressional staffers, police chief

A Northern California city council member is pointing to his state’s lenient policies on crime after he and a mayor were allegedly punched in a daytime attack by a homeless person.

Marysville City Councilman Dom Belza told Fox News Digital he and Mayor Chris Branscum, Chief of Police Christian Sachs, along with two congressional staffers for Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), were downtown assessing damage to a historic building that had been recently devastated by a fire when the incident occurred Aug. 22.

“We were standing on the sidewalk near the site having a casual conversation. An individual was crossing at the crosswalk. And right as he got to the mayor, who had his back turned, the individual reached back and swung and hit him right square in the back,” Belza said. 

“There was no communication, no altercation. There was nothing that instigated the punch. It was just a complete random act of violence.”

Branscum described the attack as “out of nowhere,” telling KCRA-TV that “I thought I was hit by a car.

“I was hit so hard. The next thing I know, there’s this guy sliding by me, running, and I yelled an expletive at him.”

Following the alleged attack, Belza said, his “instincts kicked in” and he bolted after the fleeing suspect.

The suspect, who was later identified as 36-year-old Derek Hopkins, took off running after the incident.

“I saw the attacker take off running down the street, so instinct kicked in, and I ran after the attacker,” Belza said. “As I was gaining on him, and we were about halfway down the block, he turned around and saw me over his shoulder.”

Belza said Hopkins stopped and came in for a second punch, hitting him on the side of his head.

“After that, I engaged him and took him down to the ground and restrained him until the chief of police was able to get there. We held him in custody until he was officially arrested,” Belza said.

Hopkins is facing eight charges that include felony assault of a public official and felony elder abuse. His bail is set at $50,000.

Belza said the incident sheds light on the crime crisis happening in communities across California, as Democratic policies impact ordinary citizens and elected officials.

“In a bigger light and a larger picture of this whole situation, this is something that we’re dealing with on a regular basis,” he said. “Maybe not necessarily where an elected official gets attacked, but where there’s many more of these types of crimes and these types of attacks in communities across California.”

“It speaks to a much bigger issue in the state. This attack is really a result of the soft-on-crime policy that California has implemented over the last 10 years,” he said.

Belza zeroed in on Proposition 47, which was signed into law in November 2014 and reclassified six minor felony offenses as misdemeanors, including shoplifting of merchandise valued at less than $950 and drug possession.

“Prop 47 is the anchor of that soft on crime,” he said.

He pointed to California’s attorney general in 2014 — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee — as the leader behind the legislation.

“She was the one who really pushed this heavily, and since then, we’ve just seen crime go rampant in California,” he said. “I think we should all be really concerned that if she is running for president, or if she becomes president, that the entire nation is going to deal with the same issues that California is dealing with for the last 10 years.

“That should be a huge, huge concern for all of us.”

Belza said that despite his city’s small size, it has been forced to deal with the result of progressive legislation, like Prop 47.

“We’re a small community in Northern California, and we’ve been dealing with homelessness, substance abuse, vagrancy, loitering and vandalism,” Belza said. “One of our local coffee shops last year just randomly had a chair thrown through its window.

“We’ve just seen a huge increase in those types of crime, not to mention the increase in hard crimes, like murders.”

In 2024, California reported that violent crime had significantly declined. Belza disputed the claims, saying the new classification of reporting crime has impacted the data.

“When you report it [crime] differently, it’s not necessarily that the crime is going down,” Belza said. “What used to be reported as a felony, now is reported as a misdemeanor, and what used to be reported as a misdemeanor is now reported as a lighter-infraction crime.

“And so it’s not that crime has gone down,” he added. “I would say the reality is we’ve seen crime go up to the point where most of our residents in Marysville are afraid to go to the store. They’re afraid to walk down the street.

“And situations like this are proof that California is not a safe state and that these small, rural communities aren’t safe anymore,” he said.

“And that’s the real issue — people don’t feel safe,” he said. “I had a call from a lady that I know, an elderly lady in town, who went to the local (drugstore) to pick up her medications. And as she was trying to get back to her car from the storefront, she was confronted by two individuals in the street that wanted to harass her. She doesn’t have anybody there to help her or to protect her.”

Belza said communities in California have created coalitions to combat crime.

“Because of the results of what we’re experiencing with crime in California, the people spoke up. We got enough signatures to get Prop 36 on the ballot,” he said. “Prop 36 really changes what Prop 47 did and brings serious ramifications for repeat offenders, especially in retail theft and especially in heavy drugs, like fentanyl.

“I created an organization last spring called Free California, and it is designed to help partner state legislators and others that are trying to combat this issue on a policy level and also bring awareness to California residents to say that we the people can make changes to things that we’re not happy about. We have a responsibility to step up as California citizens and to help make this a safe state.”

The Harris campaign and LaMalfa did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.