This is a partial list of recent crime in Berkeley, compiled by Berkeleyside, and based on reports to the Berkeley Police Department unless otherwise noted. The following items represent a sampling of calls, and times may be approximate.
From Oct. 9-15, there were reports of 16 burglaries, 27 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles and 10 stolen vehicles, according to CrimeMapping.com. Four robberies, 14 assaults, domestic violence incidents or batteries and two sexual assaults were reported. Significant incidents from the University of California Police Department included two robberies and three reports of vandalism. These numbers are subject to change. Click the links above for the latest numbers.
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Thursday, Oct. 9
Two home burglaries were reported, at 8:51 a.m. in the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue, and at 11 p.m. in the 1100 block of High Court.
Police arrested 34-year-old Oscar Christopher at 12:05 p.m. on a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender. He remains in custody with a bail of $115,000 at Santa Rita Jail, and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Oct. 23.
Police responded to a disturbance at 8:03 p.m. in the 1300 block of Henry Street. Police arrested Zuberi Hill, 36, on suspicion of failure to register as a sex offender, burglary and theft. He remains in custody with a bail of $70,000 at Santa Rita Jail and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Nov. 4.
A vehicle was stolen at 8:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Parker Street.
Friday, Oct. 10
Three homes were burglarized: at midnight in the 2400 block of Curtis Street; at 8:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of Hearst Avenue; and at 9:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of Hearst.
A vehicle was stolen at 9 a.m. in the 1700 block of 10th Street.
Police responded to three reports of a disturbance: at 3:20 p.m. in the 1300 block of Derby Street; at 10:16 p.m. at Grant Street and University Avenue; and at 10:52 p.m. at 10th and Channing Way.
There was a robbery at 6:24 p.m. at Ellis and Harmon streets. In that incident, police arrested two teenagers after they reportedly robbed someone of a pound of medical marijuana in South Berkeley. According to Berkeley Police Lt. Dave Frankel, the suspects had arranged online to buy the marijuana from someone in San Pablo, but used a gun to rob the seller when the deal was to take place, near Adeline and Fairview streets. After the robbery, the suspects went behind a house in the 3200 block of Ellis Street. Police responded to the area and detained the men nearby, in a rear yard in the 1800 block of Harmon Street. No weapon was recovered. Police identified the men as Jared Williams and Jamel Carroll, both 18-year-old Berkeley residents. Both have since been released, according to the Alameda County district attorney’s office, but they were scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Monday. Berkeleyside has asked whether either student attended BUSD schools, but the school district did not respond to that request for information. (This item first appeared in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)
Saturday, Oct. 11
The University of California Police Department responded to a robbery at 12:38 a.m. In that incident, police arrested two 18-year-olds after authorities say they robbed an 18-year-old UC Berkeley student while threatening to have a firearm. The incident took place on the north side of Alumni House, on the south side of the UC Berkeley campus. The student had been walking when two young men approached, demanded his property and gestured as if they had a firearm, according to a statement released by UCPD. He complied and the suspects fled with his property. The victim called UCPD using a campus blue light emergency phone. UCPD searched the area and detained two young men nearby. The victim identified them as the robbers, and they were arrested. Police recovered the victim’s property during a search related to the arrest. Police identified the robbers as Jalen Carr-Harris and Ronald Paul, both 18-year-old Berkeley residents. Carr-Harris remained in custody with a bail of $50,000, but Paul had been released on a bond for his $50,000 bail, according to the Alameda County district attorney’s office. Both have been charged with robbery and are scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Oct. 23. Berkeleyside has asked whether either student attended BUSD schools, but the school district did not respond to that request for information. (This item first appeared in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)
Police responded to two second response calls — at 12:30 a.m. in the 2600 block of Dwight Way, and at 12:31 a.m. in the 2500 block of Dwight — and a disturbance at 2:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of Blake Street.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 1 a.m. in the 1600 block of Tyler Street, and at noon in the 1900 block of Berryman Street.
There were two home burglaries, at 7 a.m. in the 1100 block of Parker Street, and at 1 p.m. in the 2300 block of Eighth Street.
Police responded to a call involving the brandishing of a gun or other weapon at 1:15 p.m. in the 1300 block of Haskell Street.
There was a commercial burglary at 3 p.m. in the 2700 block of Adeline Street.
A felony sexual assault took place at 4:30 p.m. in the 2300 block of Piedmont Avenue.
According to BART police, a thief stole a tricycle from the racks at the North Berkeley BART station between 11 a.m. on Oct. 6 and 10 p.m. Saturday. The trike had been secured with a cable lock.
Sunday, Oct. 12
Shortly before 12:30 a.m., officers arrested a transient woman they say was responsible for pushing down an 85-year-old pedestrian in the street in September. Officers located 58-year-old Carol Freeman in Civic Center Park, on Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Allston Way and Center Street, after a community tip. Freeman is being held at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $110,000 and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Oct. 23 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland. Read more on Berkeleyside.
The University of California Police Department responded to a robbery at 12:37 a.m. at the Clark Kerr Campus at 2601 Warring St. In that incident, police say two young men convinced a UC Berkeley student in his dorm room to make a call for them, then stole his phone while threatening to have a gun. Read more on Berkeleyside. (This item also appeared in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)
Two businesses were burglarized, at 2:41 a.m. at Alcatraz and College avenues, and at 4:04 a.m. in the 1600 block of San Pablo Avenue. Police arrested John Walker, 54, in connection with the first incident. He is no longer in custody.
A vehicle was stolen at 2:15 p.m. in the 2100 block of Kittredge Street.
Police responded to a disturbance at 3 p.m. in the 2500 block of Bancroft Way.
There was a robbery at 8:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Ada Street.
Monday, Oct. 13
Police responded to three disturbance calls: at 12:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of Monterey Avenue; at 4:35 a.m. in the 2200 block of Blake Street; and at noon in the 1700 block of Vine Street.
Police responded to two calls involving a gun or other weapon, at 12:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of Tyler, and at 1:16 a.m. at Dwight Way and McGee Avenue. In the first incident, police arrested Finus Cokes, 26, of Berkeley on suspicion of possession of concentrated cannabis, carrying a loaded firearm in public and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. He is no longer in custody. In the second incident, residents around Dwight Way and Sacramento Street said they heard eight “sharp bangs” that sounded like gunshots. Police responded to the area — around Dwight and McGee Avenue — and interviewed people who may have heard the noises, but no arrests were made. (This item first appeared in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)
There was a felony sexual assault at 2 a.m. in the 1900 block of Alcatraz.
There were three home burglaries: at 10 a.m. in the 1700 block of Ninth Street; at 1:30 p.m. in the 200 block of The Bridge Road; and at 5 p.m. in the 1100 block of Walnut Street.
Police arrested Vonchee Cossey, 35, in connection with a narcotics-related incident at 5:13 p.m. in the 5800 block of Shattuck Avenue. Cossey was arrested in Oakland on suspicion of possession of narcotics for sale, possession of a controlled substance while armed, use of a firearm during a felony, and other violations. (According to the Alameda County sheriff’s department, Cossey was arrested Oct. 14, but Berkeley Police list the incident as having occurred Oct. 13.) Cossey remains in custody with a bail of $140,000 and was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Monday.
There were three felony assaults or batteries: at 8 p.m. in the 2300 block of Sacramento Street; at 8:20 p.m. in the 2500 block of Durant Avenue; and at 9:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of Delaware Street. Police said, in the Durant Avenue incident, a man was taken to Highland Hospital after being struck in the head by another man with what was described as a tire iron, crow bar or cane. Read more on the Daily Cal.
Tuesday, Oct. 14
Two homes were burglarized, at 8 a.m. in the 2000 block of Dwight, and at 3:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Stannage Avenue.
There were two robberies, at 12:40 p.m. at Seventh Street and University Avenue, and at 7:20 p.m. at Dwight and Roosevelt Avenue.
The following incident may be related to the Seventh and University call above, but it was not immediately known as of publication time. Police recovered a firearm that was ditched after some type of deal between two men in West Berkeley. At 12:45 p.m., officers responded to University Avenue and Seventh Street for a report of someone with a machine gun. The men were gone when police arrived, but police found out more during their subsequent investigation. Police said two men had parked in separate vehicles on Seventh then became involved in some type of exchange: “One of the men (standing next to a dark SUV) ‘flashed’ the other man (standing next to Toyota) with a firearm — causing the man from the Toyota to run away.” According to Officer Byron White, a Berkeley Police spokesman, the man with the firearm then took something out of the Toyota and put it into his SUV. He threw the firearm into the bushes and drove off. When police arrived, they retrieved the firearm. The incident remains under investigation. (This item first appeared in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)
Police responded to a call involving a gun or other weapon at 9:41 p.m. at Fulton and Derby streets.
Police responded to a disturbance at 10 p.m. in the 1000 block of University.
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Five vehicles were stolen: at 9 a.m. in the 1900 block of Virginia Street; at 9:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of Milvia Street; at 10 a.m. in the 1100 block of Oregon Street; at 6:30 p.m. at Harold Way and Allston Way; and at 8:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Seventh Street.
Police responded to a disturbance at 12:49 p.m. at Telegraph Avenue and Dwight.
A business was burglarized at 4 p.m. in the 2900 block of Shattuck Avenue.
See the full list of Berkeley Police Department crime reports on CrimeMapping.com. See the list of calls to UC Police at Berkeley, which are also posted on CrimeMapping. See also Local Crime News’ regularly published list of arrests of Berkeley residents. Other sources of information on crime in Berkeley include the Police Department’s CrimeView Community and CrimeMapping.com. New reports may be added to CrimeMapping in an unpredictable manner, so numbers may increase slightly in the days after this report. This post does not reflect every call. See recent Berkeley crime blotters here.
Related:
UC Berkeley student exonerated of rape charge (10.17.14)
5 report frat house drugging, sex assaults in Berkeley (10.17.14)
Berkeley police find bike stash, but still seeking victims (10.17.14)
Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, Oct. 2-8 (10.15.14)
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