Child Custody Exchange Turns Violent

Police made a pair of arrests Saturday after a child custody exchange turned violent, Livermore Police Sgt. Mike Mayberry said.

At around 10 a.m. officers responded to a report of a man beating another man with a pipe at the Applebee's parking lot on First Street, Mayberry said.

When officers arrived on scene they contacted two males, Betlimus Atai and Mirwais Amoni.

Both men have had previous contact with police over an ongoing custody dispute, Mayberry said.

Police said during Saturday's child custody exchange Atai, 35, pulled his son out of Amoni's vehicle through the driver's side window and dragged him back to his car.

Amoni, 37 and the chid's step father, then reached for a baton in his vehicle and began to strike Atai with the weapon multiple times, Mayberry said.

Amoni was arrested on suspicion of possession of a baton, Mayberry said.

Atai was arrested on suspicion of child cruelty and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Department 701 of the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasanton. He is currently being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of a $100,000 bail.