Willard Middle School in Berkeley was on temporary lockdown this afternoon due to a police search in the area.
At 1 p.m., Berkeley Police received a call about a suspicious person on a property in the 2700 block of Regent Street, police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said.
She continued: “The initial call was suspicious persons, who appeared to be prowling or casing a residence. An officer arrived in the area and observed an attempted burglary into a residence. The officer attempted to detain them and they fled on foot.
“Officers established a perimeter and conducted a yard to yard search.
“The subjects were eventually located and detained. BPD has four male juveniles and one female juvenile in custody. ”
The Police Department was in contact with Willard staff keeping staff updated regarding the police activity in the area. The block perimeter was released at approximately 1:55 p.m., according to Coats.
The Willard school community received a robocall from the school’s principal, Debbie Dean, before 2:30 p.m., alerting them to the situation.
This story was updated as new information became available.
Get the latest Berkeley news in your inbox with Berkeleyside’s free Daily Briefing. And make sure to bookmark Berkeleyside’s pages on Facebook and Twitter. You don’t need an account on those sites to view important information.
