A Berkeley teenager is facing two felony counts after authorities say he robbed a 31-year-old Davis woman during a drug deal in Berkeley involving medical cannabis.
Jerrone Horn, 19, was arrested Dec. 5 in the 1300 block of Delaware Street after police tied him to the crime using a telephone number.
According to court documents, on Nov. 16, a victim reported being robbed by people with a gun at Allston Way and Bonar Street shortly before 7 p.m. The suspects had responded to a Craigslist advertisement related to the sale of medical cannabis.
The victims — a man and woman — initially reported the loss as an iPhone because they were afraid of getting in trouble for selling marijuana, authorities said in court papers, “but felt obligated to report the fact that the suspects were robbing people with guns.”
One of the suspects had provided a telephone number while setting up the transaction, and police linked that number to Horn, who was identified by one of the victims in a photo line-up as the robber without the gun.
At Horn’s home, police said they found a letterman-style jacket that had been described by the victim as worn by one of the robbers, the cellphone used to arrange the deal, and an unregistered, loaded .380-caliber pistol, police said.
It was Horn, said police, who disputed the victims’ report that an iPhone had been stolen: “Horn stated he and his friend were responded (sic) to an ad on Craigslist selling prop 215 marijuana.”
According to court papers, Horn admitted to stealing the marijuana and running off without paying, but said the gun, which had been used by his friend, had been a surprise to him.
Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said Horn had been discussing the transaction with the victims when he snatched the marijuana and started to run. A second man then appeared with a gun and told the victims to leave the area. The robbers fled the scene through Strawberry Creek Park.
Horn has been charged with second-degree robbery and unlawful firearm activity, according to the Alameda County district attorney’s office. He had been forbidden from possessing firearms due to a juvenile case related to battery with serious bodily injury.
Horn is being held with a bail of $100,000 at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Thursday in Department 115 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.
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