Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, 11/27-12/3

Selected calls for service to the Berkeley Police, via CrimeMapping.com. (Scroll down for maps of robberies, burglaries, auto burglaries and auto thefts.) Click the map for the full list. See the map key here.

This is an overview of recent crime in Berkeley, exclusively 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 Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, there were reports of 21 burglaries, 19 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles, 14 stolen vehicles and 11 disturbances, according to CrimeMapping.com. Five robberies, six assaults or batteries, one weapon-related call and two sexual assaults were reported. Significant incidents from the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included three robberies and four burglaries. These numbers are subject to change. Click the links above for the latest numbers.

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Thursday, Nov. 27

There were five home burglaries: at 12:01 a.m. in the 2000 block of Shattuck Avenue; at 9 a.m. in the 900 block of Virginia Street; at 9:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of Rose Street; at 10:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of Spruce Street; and at 2 p.m. in the 1400 block of Berkeley Way.

There were two robberies, at 1:30 a.m. at Russell Street and San Pablo Avenue, and at 9:48 p.m. at Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way.

According to UCPD: Three men armed with handguns and a baseball bat kidnapped and robbed a man and a woman at a dirt turn-out along Grizzly Peak Boulevard at 2 a.m. Read more on Berkeleyside.

Four vehicles were stolen: at noon in the 800 block of Santa Barbara Road; at 1:30 p.m. in the 2900 block of Garber Street; at 8:45 p.m. in the 2900 block of Garber; and at 11 p.m. in the 2000 block of Ninth Street.

Police responded to a disturbance at 2:48 p.m. in the 1900 block of Sixth Street.

Police handled a call involving a gun or other weapon at 10:31 p.m. in the 3100 block of Adeline Street.

There were 21 burglaries (shown in black) reported over this period, via CrimeMapping.com. The prior week there were 30. There were also five robberies (in blue), following 11 the prior week. Click the map for a list of both.

Friday, Nov. 28

There were two home burglaries, both listed at midnight in the 2200 block of Derby Street.

There were two robberies, at 1:30 a.m. at San Pablo and University avenues, and at 10:18 a.m. in the 2800 block of Adeline.

There was a commercial burglary at 3:33 a.m. in the 700 block of Ashby Avenue.

A vehicle was stolen at 2 p.m. in the 1600 block of Hearst Avenue.

There was a disturbance at 3:45 p.m. in the 2200 block of Carleton Street.

Saturday, Nov. 29

A vehicle was stolen at 1:30 a.m. in the 2000 block of Stuart Street.

There was a felony assault or battery at 1:58 a.m. at Durant and Telegraph avenues. Police arrested a 29-year-old bouncer on suspicion of battery causing serious bodily injury, but he is no longer in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed.

A BART police officer who ran a warrants check on a man panhandling outside the downtown Berkeley BART station at about 8:10 a.m. found him to have a $15,000 misdemeanor warrant from the Berkeley Police Department for public intoxication. The man was arrested and booked into Berkeley Jail.

There were two home burglaries, at 2 p.m. in the 2600 block of Benvenue Avenue, and at 5 p.m. in the 1500 block of Addison Street.

There were 19 thefts or burglaries from vehicles reported on CrimeMapping. There were 28 the prior week. There were also 14 vehicles stolen (in purple). Click the map for a list of incidents.

Sunday, Nov. 30

Three vehicles were stolen: at 3 a.m. in the 2200 block of Prince Street; at 8 p.m. in the 2500 block of Benvenue; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 2900 block of Claremont Avenue.

The body of a man was found shortly after 4 p.m. in South Aquatic Park in Berkeley. Berkeley police said it is too soon to determine whether foul play is involved. The incident is being investigated as a suspicious death. He was later identified as 51-year-old Gary Baker.

Police responded to a disturbance at 9:42 p.m. at Haste and Bowditch streets.

There was a commercial burglary at 11:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Shattuck Avenue.

Monday, Dec. 1

There were two commercial burglaries, at 1:10 a.m. in the 1500 block of Hopkins Street, and at 6 p.m. in the 1800 block of University Avenue.

There was a misdemeanor sexual assault at 4:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Russell Street.

Police responded to three disturbance calls: at 6:58 a.m. in the 2000 block of Ashby Avenue; at 7:22 a.m. in the 2400 block of Shattuck Avenue; and at 10:24 a.m. in the 1500 block of Fourth Street.

ROBINSON, Kirk. Image: UCPD — Kirk Robinson. Image: UCPD

A man was arrested by UCPD after authorities said he stole a laptop from the East Asian Library and a backpack from Doe Library on the UC Berkeley campus. According to UCPD, a Koshland library staff member saw a man go into an unattended workstation and take a laptop and cellphone. Another staffer called police, who arrested the man near the Valley Life Sciences Building. Police said security footage showed the man going into libraries on campus, “conducting casing activities and leaving with the stolen items.” Police identified the man as 56-year-old Kirk Robinson. He remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, without bail, and is scheduled for a report and sentencing hearing Jan. 8.

University of California police arrested three men suspected of robbing and kidnapping two people in the pre-dawn hours of Thanksgiving. UCPD did not release the names of the arrested men. Read more on Berkeleyside.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 7 p.m. in the 2000 block of Blake Street, and at 9 p.m. in the 2200 block of Parker Street.

There was a home burglary at 10 p.m. in the 2400 block of Milvia Street.

Shown above: assaults or batteries, weapon calls, sexual assaults and disturbances. Click the image for a list.

Tuesday, Dec. 2

There were three commercial burglaries: at 12:21 a.m. in the 1400 block of San Pablo; at 2 a.m. in the same block; and at 4 p.m. in the 1200 block of Fifth Street.

There was a robbery on Grizzly Peak Boulevard at 9 a.m., according to UCPD.

There were two home burglaries, at 2:55 p.m. in the 3000 block of Fulton Street, and at 3:20 p.m. in the 2700 block of Ellsworth Street.

There was a misdemeanor sexual assault at 4 p.m. in the 2400 block of San Pablo Avenue.

A vehicle was stolen at 5 p.m. in the 1800 block of San Lorenzo Avenue.

Two men with a gun robbed a man of his wallet, cellphone and bag just before 9 p.m. near the Greek Theater, according to UCPD. The 29-year-old man was walking near the Bowles parking lot when two men approached him and pointed a gun at him. The other took the man’s wallet and phone from his pocked, and also took his shoulder bag. They ran off toward the Foothill Lot, and police were unable to find them. The men were described as black, in their 20s, 5 feet 8 inches tall. Both had a medium build, wore a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, and had a white bandanna over part of the face.

Wednesday, Dec. 3

There were two commercial burglaries, at 12:01 a.m. in the 2300 block of Le Conte Avenue, and at 4:35 a.m. in the 1800 block of Solano Avenue.

There were five disturbance calls: at 2:10 a.m. in the 2400 block of Durant Avenue; at 5:45 p.m. in the 1300 block of Lincoln Avenue; at 11:07 a.m. in the 800 block of Jones Street; at 2:50 p.m. in the 2000 block of Berkeley Way; and at 6:20 p.m. in the 1700 block of University Avenue.

Two vehicles were stolen, at noon in the 2900 block of Pine Avenue, and at 9 p.m. in the 700 block of Grizzly Peak Boulevard.

There was a robbery at 3:04 p.m. at Fourth Street and Hearst Avenue.

Other recent incidents

In the past two weeks, BART police have responded to two vehicle thefts in Berkeley, and four auto burglary reports at two Berkeley BART stations. A black 1997 Honda Accord was stolen from Ashby BART on Dec. 5, and a white 1988 Honda Accord was stolen from the North Berkeley BART station Dec. 9. On Dec. 7, authorities say four teens broke the windows of four vehicles in an Ashby BART parking lot and ransacked them. Someone called 911 just after 7 p.m. to report a group of teens burglarizing vehicles in the Woolsey Street parking lot. BART police officers responded to look for the teens but were unable to find them.

See the Berkeley Police Department’s 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. The Berkeley Police Department also posts “calls for service” spreadsheets — containing more data — online for those who would like to see more. New reports may be added to CrimeMapping in an unpredictable manner, so numbers may increase in the days after this report. This post does not reflect every call. See recent Berkeley crime blotters here.

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Other recent incidents

Emilie Raguso