This is a partial list of recent crimes 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. 16-22, there were reports of 16 burglaries, 28 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles and 13 stolen vehicles, according to CrimeMapping.com. Eighteen robberies, 14 assaults, domestic violence incidents or batteries and two sexual assaults were reported. Significant incidents from the University of California Police Department included one weapon-related call. These numbers are subject to change. Click the links above for the latest numbers.
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Thursday, Oct. 16
There were two home burglaries, at 12:01 a.m. in the 2200 block of Parker Street, and at 6 p.m. in the 2100 block of Byron Street.
A vehicle was reported stolen at 6 a.m. in the 2300 block of Howe Street.
Police responded to a disturbance at 7:30 a.m. in the 500 block of Arcade Avenue.
There was a felony assault or battery at 12:24 p.m. in the 1900 block of Allston Way.
Friday, Oct. 17
There were two commercial burglaries, at 1:50 a.m. in the 800 block of Hearst Avenue, and at 9:05 p.m. in the 2500 block of Shattuck Avenue.
Police responded to four disturbance calls: at 6 a.m. in the 1900 block of Parker Street; at 8 a.m. in the 800 block of Hearst; at 3 p.m. in the 2400 block of Warring Street; and at 8:42 p.m. in the 1500 block of Derby Street.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 7 a.m. in the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue, and at 5 p.m. at 10th Street and Parker.
There was a felony assault or battery at 7:24 a.m. in the 2400 block of Dana Street.
There was a robbery at 7:50 a.m. in the 1100 block of Carleton Street.
There were two home burglaries, at 7:50 a.m. in the 1700 block of McGee Avenue, and at 8:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Arch Street.
BART police detained someone for fare evasion at the downtown Berkeley BART station at 6:28 p.m. and found that person to have a $5,000 arrest warrant out of San Francisco for battery. That person was cited for fare evasion and arrested for the warrant.
A BART patron reported the theft of a red Trek 1400 12-speed mountain bike that had been locked to the racks, with a cable lock, at Ashby BART. The bike was stolen between 10 a.m. at 11 p.m., according to BART police.
Saturday, Oct. 18
There was a commercial burglary at 6:20 a.m. in the 2200 block of Fulton Street.
There was a misdemeanor sexual assault at 10:40 a.m. in the 2900 block of College Avenue.
Two vehicles were reported stolen, at 11 a.m. in the 100 block of Spinnaker Way, and at 1 p.m. in the 1700 block of McGee.
There was a robbery at 11 p.m. at California Street and Berkeley Way.
There were two reports of a disturbance, at 11:14 p.m. in the 2700 block of Durant Avenue, and at 11:17 p.m. in the 2300 block of Durant. Police also handled a “second-response” call at 11:31 p.m. in the 2700 block of Bancroft Way.
Sunday, Oct. 19
There were three home burglaries: at 2 a.m. in the 1900 block of Stuart Street; at 4 p.m. in the 1000 block of Merced Street; and at 8 p.m. in the 2500 block of Matthews Street.
Police responded to four disturbance calls: at 2 a.m. in the 2300 block of Shattuck; at 6:25 a.m. in the 1200 block of Derby Street; at 7:52 p.m. in the 900 block of Gilman Street; and at 9 p.m. in the 1800 block of Addison Street.
There were three vehicles stolen: at 4 p.m. in the 2100 block of Stuart; at 6 p.m. at Russell Street and Claremont Avenue; and at 10:45 p.m. in the 2500 block of Durant.
There were two robberies, at 4:48 p.m. at West Frontage Road and University Avenue, and at 10 p.m. at Shattuck and Center Street. In the first incident, police ultimately arrested a man after a carjacking who has been linked by police to a fatal stabbing in Oakland earlier that day. Read more on Berkeleyside.
There was a commercial burglary at 6:55 p.m. in the 2000 block of Oregon Street. Police arrested Thomas McCart, 24, on suspicion of second-degree burglary.
Monday, Oct. 20
There was a felony battery at 2 a.m. in the 2200 block of McKinley Avenue. Police detained a 31-year-old man on suspicion of battery causing serious bodily injury, but he later was released. (This item was updated after publication.)
A vehicle was reported stolen at 1 p.m. at Prospect Street and Dwight Way.
A thief stole a 1995 Honda Civic from the North Berkeley BART station between 8:10 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to BART police.
Police responded to a disturbance at 5:47 p.m. in the 2400 block of Browning Street.
There was a robbery at 11 p.m. in the 100 block of Seawall Drive.
Tuesday, Oct. 21
There were eight robberies: at 1:26 a.m. at College and Parker; at 1:30 a.m. at Benvnue Avenue and Parker; at 3:35 a.m. at College and Derby; at 3:40 a.m. at Durant and Bowditch Street; at 2:30 p.m. at Carleton Street and McGee; at 4:26 p.m. at Ninth Street and Bancroft Way; at 9:43 p.m. in the 1800 block of Seventh Street; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Alcatraz Avenue.
UCPD released a statement about the 3:40 a.m. robbery: Two 18-year-old men and a 20-year-old woman were walking near Durant and Bowditch when a man with a gun, in a brown and orange camouflage sweatshirt, demanded their property. He took their backpacks and fled. Police were unable to find the man, who was described as black, in his mid-20s, and 5 feet 8 inches tall with a thin to medium build.
There was a commercial burglary at 3:59 a.m. in the 1800 block of Fourth Street.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 6 a.m. at California and Alcatraz, and at 7 p.m. in the 1300 block of Tomlee Drive.
Police responded to a disturbance at 3:31 p.m. at Ninth and Hearst.
There was a felony sexual assault at 9:25 p.m. in the 2500 block of Benvenue. Police arrested Xavier Polke, 20, on suspicion of assault to commit mayhem. He has been charged with this crime, as well as sexual battery. Polke has been released on his own recognizance and is scheduled for an attorney and plea hearing Nov. 6.
Wednesday, Oct. 22
There were three commercial burglaries: at 1:34 a.m. in the 700 block of Addison; at 2 p.m. in the 1400 block of Shattuck; and at 2:28 p.m. in the 1500 block of Shattuck. Police arrested 65-year-old Lawrence Bishop Jr. on suspicion of second-degree burglary in connection with the 2 p.m. incident.
The University of California Police Department responded to a call involving a weapon at 2:08 a.m. in the 2500 block of Hillegass Avenue.
There were five robberies: at 4:05 a.m. at College and Parker; at 11:15 a.m. in the 1900 block of Shattuck; at 1:40 p.m. in the 1900 block of College; at 1:45 p.m. at Parker and Ninth; and at 9:32 p.m. at Addison and San Pablo Avenue.
A home was burglarized at 8 a.m. in the 2100 block of Seventh Street.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 12:09 p.m. in the 1500 block of Delaware, and at 5:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Euclid Avenue.
A man said his $200 black Trek 21-speed hybrid bike was stolen from the North Berkeley BART station while locked with a cable and combination lock between 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., according to BART police.
Police responded to three disturbance calls: at 3:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of Henry Street; at 3:36 p.m. in the 2300 block of Telegraph Avenue; and at 8:25 p.m. in the 2300 block of Spaulding Avenue.
Other recent incidents
The University of California Police Department said there were three robberies on campus of Cal students on Saturday, Oct. 25. Two of the victims suffered minor physical injuries during those incidents. In all three cases UCPD searched the area but could not locate the suspects. UCPD asks anyone with information about the robberies to call 510-642-6760.
In the first incident, at 7:51 p.m., a 24-year-old man was walking on the pathway south of the Eucalyptus Grove when a robber demanded his property. The robber punched the victim in the face, then fled northbound out of the Grove. He was described as 15-25 years old, approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and was wearing a baseball cap and dark pullover sweatshirt.
The second incident occurred minutes later, involved a threat of a firearm and took place on Strawberry Creek Bridge west of Moffitt Library. A 20-year-old man was approached by two boys, one of whom told the student he would “shoot him if he didn’t give him his property,” according to UCPD. The student complied and the robbers fled toward Oxford. The suspects were described as 10-12 years old and about 5 feet tall.
At around 10:45 p.m., the third incident occurred when a 22-year-old man was walking on Frank Schlessinger Way toward Oxford when three teens — two boys and a girl who appeared 14-16 years old — confronted him. One of the boys threatened the student and began going through his pockets. The girl took cash from the student’s wallet. The other boy punched the victim in the face. They ran east on Frank Schlessinger Way. A detailed description was not provided.
UCPD also released a statement about a sexual battery on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 23. In that incident, a 20-year-old student was eating lunch near the Free Speech Café, on the south side of the Moffitt Library, when a man came up and asked her for food. She gave him some, and he then sat down and asked her for money: “Feeling uncomfortable the victim said she had to leave. He asked her if he could hug her. She let him hug her thinking he was thanking her for the food. While hugging the victim, the suspect touched her inappropriately.” The man was last seen walking westbound toward the Valley Life Sciences Building on campus. Police searched but could not find the man, who was described as black, 30 years old, with a dark complexion, medium build and a “Van Dyke” beard. He was wearing a black coat that was zipped up, with an ID-type badge around his neck and blue denim jeans. Police said the woman thought the man might be homeless because of his appearance and body odor.
UCPD released an alert Oct. 23 that it had received a report from a campus security authority that a female student said she had been drugged and sexually assaulted at a fraternity. The assault occurred approximately two weeks prior on a Saturday after a football game during the daylight hours. UCPD gave the information to the Berkeley Police Department, which advised that it had received no reports about that incident.
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:
BHS staffer injured, 15 suspended, due to 500-strong student mob (10.27.14)
Woman killed in South Berkeley remembered as artist, humorist, lover of plants and pets (10.24.14)
1 held, 1 freed in Berkeley hatchet homicide (10.23.14)
Berkeley carjacking suspect charged in Oakland murder (10.23.14)
Alleged killer says sexual advances toward girlfriend prompted Berkeley homicide (10.23.14)
Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, Oct. 9-15 (10.21.14)
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