Placer County park attack leads to arrest after 2 women assaulted

Good Samaritans are being credited with helping detain a suspect who allegedly attacked two women at a North Auburn park last month.

The Placer County Sheriff's Office said that, on May 23, a woman was fishing with her son and elderly mother at Chana Park when the two women were allegedly attacked by 49-year-old Michael Appleberry.

Exactly what led up to the alleged attack is unclear, but deputies said the elderly woman was knocked out of her wheelchair and briefly lost consciousness. The other woman was knocked to the ground and punched in the head several times, the sheriff's office said.

Two Good Samaritans apparently heard the women cry for help and ran over. Deputies said Appleberry was tackled and held by the men until deputies arrived a few minutes later.

Appleberry allegedly resisted deputies and spit blood onto medics at the scene, the sheriff's office said. He is facing several battery-related charges.

Deputies did not have an updated condition of the women who were attacked.

The sheriff's office noted that Appleberry is a resident of The Gathering Inn homeless shelter in Auburn.