Coliseum Station stabbing suspect identified

32-year-old Robert Dolph of San Francisco was arrested on attempted murder charges following a stabbing at BART’s Oakland Coliseum Station at 2:52 p.m. on Saturday, April 7, 2018.

The victims are a woman in her 60’s and her brother in his 50’s.

The siblings initially boarded a train at the South San Francisco Station. The suspect, who was unknown to the victims, boarded at the Civic Center Station. He was acting erratically with verbal outbursts. 

When the victims exited their train car at the Coliseum Station, the suspect followed. As they approached the fare gates, the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing the brother and sister in an attack that appears to have been unprovoked.

As the station agent immediately called police, a good samaritan intervened, wrestled the knife from the suspect and held him until officers arrived within 2 minutes. A second good samaritan then came and also helped hold the suspect down as he was handcuffed. The swift response by the station agent and police as well as the intervention by the good samaritans were all critical to ending the attack and apprehending the suspect.  

The victims were taken by ambulance to the hospital where at last check the woman was in fair condition and the man in critical, but stable condition.

Dolph was booked into Santa Rita jail in Dublin. He admitted his involvement in the crime during an interview with investigators. The knife was recovered at the scene.

The Coliseum Station was shut down for approximately 2 hours as the investigation took place.