Berkeley Police officers arrested four teenagers from Oakland after authorities said they tried to rob a woman of her purse Sunday night.
Just before 8:45 p.m., police responded to a report of a robbery in the 2600 block of Shattuck Avenue, between Parker and Carleton streets.
According to Officer Jennifer Coats, Berkeley Police spokeswoman, two people had tried to take the purse of a 33-year-old Berkeley woman. Suspects were seen fleeing the area in a white Honda.
Police located a vehicle matching that description about a mile west, at Dwight Way and Bonar Street.
Police stopped the vehicle and, during their investigation, identified some of the vehicle’s occupants as participants in the robbery, said Coats via email.
Police arrested all four people in the vehicle on suspicion of robbery: 19-year-old Tyrell Hendrix, a 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds. (The names of the minors were not released because they are juveniles.)
Hendrix did not appear to be in custody as of Thursday, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
Police have responded to nine robbery calls in Berkeley in the past week, between Oct. 30 and Nov. 5, according to CrimeMapping.com, which reports calls for service from the Berkeley Police Department.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, robberies were reported at Virginia Street and McGee Avenue at 7:22 p.m.; at Scenic Avenue and Ridge Road at 7:45 p.m.; and in the 2500 block of Le Conte Avenue at 7:50 p.m.
On Oct. 31, robberies were reported in the 100 block of Seawall Drive at 6:50 a.m., and in the 1700 block of San Pablo Avenue at 1 p.m.
On Nov. 1, a robbery was reported at 8:30 p.m. in the 2600 block of Derby Street. Police said previously that a teen with a gun robbed a woman of her purse. He fled but police detained him nearby, according to Coats. He was identified as Kalee Jelani Gibbs, 18, of Berkeley.
Nov. 2., robberies were reported at Woolsey and Adeline streets, at 9:30 p.m., and at Woolsey and Shattuck at 11:20 p.m.
In the Berkeley Police Department’s most recent crime report before the City Council, authorities said pedestrian robbery calls, including many involving smart phones, were up during the first half of the year 35% over last year. Many other types of crime were down or flat, authorities said, but pedestrian robberies showed a steep increase.
Police said the region has seen a 26% percent rise in overall robberies, and that Berkeley is not immune to those trends. Police also noted a 49% increase in robbery-related arrests in 2013.
The largest category of stolen property in robberies in the first half of the year included iPhones, iPods and other smartphones. Losses in that category increased 67% from 2012 to 2013, said police. Most victims were walking alone, and more than half held a phone in their hand.
Police said earlier this year that crime reports overall had risen 11% from 2011 to 2012.
Read more about robberies in Berkeley via past Berkeleyside coverage.
Related:
7 arrests, 3 firearms recovered, during 1 week in Berkeley (11.04.13)
Police arrest Berkeley man with guns after robbery (10.14.13)
2 women charged after Berkeley stun gun robberies (09.30.13)
Oakland parolee charged after 2 robberies in Berkeley (09.24.13)
Council highlights gangs, staffing during crime report (09.19.13)
Berkeley pedestrian robberies up 35%, burglaries up too (09.17.13)
Op-Ed: We need to be able to walk our streets and not be afraid (08.21.13)
Berkeley crime analysis: Robberies up 25% in 2013 (05.16.13)
Crime in Berkeley up 11% in 2012, but longer trend is down (02.06.13)
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