The mayor and councilman of California were attacked by a homeless man, and they placed the blame on then-AG Kamala Harris for the state's crime issues.

Officials in California accused then-Attorney General Kamala Harris of being responsible for the state's lenient criminal justice policies following an incident in which a small-town mayor and council member were attacked by a homeless offender.

During a daytime attack last month, Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum and City Councilman Dom Belza were allegedly assaulted by the suspect. Branscum stated that he was standing with Belza and the chief of police in the middle of a crosswalk evaluating the damage to a historic building that had been recently destroyed by a fire when the unprovoked assault took place.

""Fox & Friends First" on Thursday reported that Branscum was hit so hard in his lower back that he thought he had been hit by a car. "In the moment, I figured out what really happened is this guy slides around me and takes off on a dead run with Dominique Belza right on his tail. Unremarkable," Branscum said."

"As an elected official, the news coverage of the homeless problem brought attention to the issue, particularly the behavior of the homeless population."

After the alleged attack, Belza's "instincts took over" and he ran after the fleeing suspect, who was later identified as 36-year-old Derek Hopkins.

Hopkins was reportedly caught up with by Belza and received a second punch, which hit him on the side of his head.

After engaging the suspect and restraining him, Belza was able to take him into custody and arrest him shortly thereafter.

"The root cause of the current situation, as Belza sees it, is the soft-on-crime policy that has been implemented in California for the past decade or so. This policy, which was initiated with AB 109 and the impact of prisons, has led to a number of issues in the state. The pinnacle of this issue was in 2014 when Prop 47 passed, and Kamala Harris, who was the attorney general at the time, named the proposition the Safe Communities and Safe Schools Act."

In November 2014, Prop 47 was enacted, reclassifying six minor offenses as misdemeanors, including shoplifting of merchandise valued at less than $950 and drug possession.

"Belza stated that in reality, the law lowered what were previously considered felony crimes such as retail theft and drug dealing, drug possession, to misdemeanors with no end in sight for the number of infractions committed. Since then, California has seen an increase in crime, which is a tragedy."

Marysville, a small town north of Sacramento with a population of 13,000, is facing the consequences of lenient crime policies supported by affluent communities across the state.

"Branscum stated that the coastal communities in California were the ones that passed the act, while the communities in the Valley voted no, except for Sacramento County. However, these communities are now facing issues as they are busing out their problem population, leading to an influx of new members in their communities, which they must now deal with."

Eight charges, including felony assault of a public official and felony elder abuse, have been filed against Hopkins. His bail is set at $50,000.

Planet Chronicle' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.