This overview of recent crime in Berkeley is based on reports to the Berkeley Police unless otherwise noted. Please don’t hesitate to share photos, videos or tips, about breaking news or neighborhood safety issues, via email at tips@berkeleyside.com or on Facebook or Twitter; let us know if you prefer to be anonymous. Don’t assume someone else will alert us — we value your eyes and ears, and you may be the only one to get in touch. We very much want to know about issues of neighborhood concern.
From Feb. 12-18, there were reports of four robberies, 26 burglaries, 18 assaults or batteries, two weapon-involved calls and three sexual assaults, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 11 stolen vehicles, 19 disturbances and 28 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Significant incidents from the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included five reports of vandalism. These numbers are subject to change. Click the links for the latest numbers. The following items represent a sampling of calls, and times may be approximate.
Thursday, Feb. 12
There were two home burglaries, at 1:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Durant Avenue, and at 7:25 a.m. in the 800 block of Cedar Street.
There was a commercial burglary at 5 a.m. in the 2500 block of San Pablo Avenue.
A vehicle was stolen at 5 a.m. in the 3000 block of Mabel Street.
There was a robbery at 10:45 a.m. in the 1000 block of University Avenue.
According to the BART police, a thief stole a $400 silver Dahon Mariner B7 foldable bicycle that had been secured with cable and U locks at the North Berkeley BART station between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
There were three disturbance calls: at 3:38 p.m. in the 2300 block of McKinley Avenue; at 5:15 p.m. in the 2300 block of Telegraph Avenue; and at 10:15 p.m. in the 1000 block of University Avenue.
According to the BART police, a thief grabbed an iPhone 6 from a woman’s hand while she was on a Fremont-bound train approaching the Ashby BART station at about 6:15 p.m. The suspect fled the station in an unknown direction.
Friday, Feb. 13
There were two felony sexual assaults, at 12:50 a.m. in the 800 block of Miramar Avenue, and at 4 a.m. in the 2400 block of Piedmont Avenue.
There were three home burglaries: at 8 a.m. in the 1200 block of Allston Way; at 9 a.m. in the 1200 block of Channing Way; and at 1:50 a.m. in the 1900 block of Delaware Street.
There were two disturbance calls, at 2:44 p.m. in the 1000 block of Grayson Street, and at 3:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of Cedar Street.
According to the BART police, a thief stole a $660 blue Bianchi Bergamo hybrid bicycle, which had been secured with cable and U locks at Ashby BART, between Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. and Feb. 13 at 4:20 p.m.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 6 p.m. at Fifth Street and Allston, and at 7 p.m. in the 2600 block of Piedmont Avenue.
Police handled a call involving a gun or other weapon at 10:20 p.m. at Sixth and Gilman streets.
There was a robbery at 11:50 p.m. at Haste and Milvia streets: Police arrested three teenagers after a strong-arm robbery and car crash at UC Berkeley on Friday, Feb. 13. According to a statement released by UCPD, there was a robbery at 11:50 p.m. at Milvia and Haste streets. The female victim was walking when two males forcibly took her property. They were seen getting into a white pickup truck. About 10 minutes later, Berkeley police officers saw a white truck speeding the wrong way down Dana Street. The driver crashed in the Dwinelle parking lot, hitting several barriers and a bench. The occupants fled but they were spotted by a UCPD security officer near University Drive. Police detained the trio, and identified them as 18-year-old Bryan Escobedo, 19-year-old Alejandro Martinez-Vega and a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released due to privacy laws protecting minors. Neither man appears to be in custody any longer, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department’s online records system. (This item first appeared in last week’s blotter for timeliness.)
Saturday, Feb. 14
There were five home burglaries: at 1:30 a.m. in the 2000 block of Los Angeles Avenue; at noon in the 1800 block of Francisco Street; at 6 p.m. in the 900 block of Cedar; at 9 p.m. in the 2300 block of Piedmont; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Ashby Avenue.
There was a commercial burglary at 2:10 a.m. in the 1800 block of Harmon Street, and again at 9:55 p.m. in the 1800 block of Harmon.
There was a robbery at 6:47 a.m. in the 2800 block of Adeline Street.
There was a disturbance at 1:46 p.m. in the 200 block of Domingo Avenue.
A vehicle was stolen at 6 p.m. in the 700 block of Euclid Avenue.
Sunday, Feb. 15
There were four disturbance calls: at 12:25 a.m. in the 2700 block of Hillegass Avenue; at 1 a.m. in the 2700 block of Telegraph; at 8:47 a.m. in the 200 block of University Avenue; and at 8 p.m. in the 2100 block of University.
Police arrested 22-year-old Lawrence Bullock at 1:10 a.m. in the 3100 block of Adeline Street on suspicion of second-degree burglary in connection with an auto burglary incident. He is no longer in custody, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
A 61-year-old Berkeley man was taken by ambulance to the hospital after he crashed at Hopkins and Josephine streets just before 8:40 a.m. at Hopkins Early Childhood center, a BUSD facility. Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said the crash involved no other vehicles, and no one else was injured. Coats said a medical issue may have contributed to the incident. The man hit a barricade and then a tree, she said. The day of the crash, a local resident wrote Berkeleyside with a bit more detail, saying that the man had “hit the concrete stanchion holding the ‘Right Turn Only’ sign, pushing it diagonally across the intersection deep into the circular driveway of the preschool, where it still sits.” As of that afternoon, the resident added, “A license plate holder was embedded in the tree.”
Two vehicles were stolen, at 8:45 a.m. in the 3200 block of Sacramento Street, and at 11 a.m. in the 1900 block of Chestnut Street.
Police handled a call involving a gun or other weapon at 4:38 p.m. in the 2400 block of Telegraph.
Police handled a second-response call at 11:14 p.m. in the 2300 block of College Avenue.
Monday, Feb. 16
There were two commercial burglaries, at 1:47 a.m. in the 2900 block of Telegraph, and at noon in the 2400 block of Fourth Street.
There was a disturbance call at 10:16 a.m. in the 2000 block of Allston. Police arrested 27-year-old Princess Swan on suspicion of assault with a caustic chemical. She is no longer in custody, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
Police handled a vice call at 10:25 a.m. in the 2100 block of Addison Street.
There were two home burglaries, at 11:34 a.m. in the 1700 block of Lincoln Street, and at 3:45 p.m. at an unlisted location.
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Three vehicles were stolen: at 2:28 a.m. in the 1100 block of Spruce Street; at 5 p.m. in the 2900 block of Shattuck Avenue; and at 9:45 p.m. in the 1600 block of Tyler Street.
There were three disturbance calls: at 2:38 a.m. in the 1300 block of Shattuck; at 10:44 a.m. at Ninth Street and Bancroft Way; and at 9:50 p.m. in the 2900 block of Ellsworth Street.
There were five home burglaries: at 8 a.m. in the 3300 block of King Street; at 9 a.m. in the 3200 block of Baker Street; at 12:59 p.m. in the 800 block of Oxford Street; at 2:40 p.m. in the 1700 block of Tacoma Avenue; and at 10 p.m. in the 1000 block of Keith Avenue. According to one resident, regarding the Oxford Street incident, “At least seven police cars responded and conducted a search of several yards and some basements on Oxford and Indian Rock. The relevant blocks were Oxford between Marin and Indian Rock and Indian Rock between San Luis and Oxford.” She said she was told that a stolen backpack ultimately was recovered.
There was a commercial burglary at 5:30 p.m. in the 2500 block of Hillegass Avenue.
There was a robbery at 5:50 p.m. at Warring Street and Channing Way.
According to the BART police, officers made one arrest after finding someone trespassing at the Ashby BART station at about 10:10 p.m. Officers responded to reports of a man sitting inside the trackway of the Ashby station “consuming alcohol and interrupting train traffic.” Police removed him and placed him under arrest on suspicion of trespassing on railroad property. The man, whose name was not released by BART, was booked at the Glenn Dyer Jail.
There was a felony assault or battery at 10:50 p.m. at Fourth and Hearst Avenue.
According to the BART police, a thief smashed the rear cab window of a truck at Ashby station and stole a bag containing a $200 racket ball set.
One reader wrote Berkeleyside on Tuesday to alert drivers to what she says has been an ongoing problem with auto burglaries at this UC Berkeley parking lot on the Clark Kerr Campus, behind the old School for the Deaf gym and pool building that is boarded up. She sent us the following information, and said many of the incidents do not seem to show up on CrimeMapping.com, adding, “Either people are not reporting or it’s not getting on the map.”
An obscure parking lot off of Sports Lane below the running track on the UC Berkeley Clark Kerr campus has seen an increasing number of auto break-ins over the past two years. Formerly a safe and secluded space used by patrons of the pool, the two sand volleyball courts, and hikers on the Claremont Canyon fire trail. The thefts are taking place only 50 or 100 feet away from where the car owner might be playing volleyball.
In the past week a photographer’s car was robbed, while 100 feet away. On Monday, a car window was smashed and a purse was stolen. Players finally got a look at the thief who left in a silver Audi A4, driven by another man. The license number was reported to police who may not have considered it a very strong lead. Other robberies included the revving of a car engine to hide the noise of a window smash. The scattered window glass in the parking lot tells the story.
I had also noticed a lot of smashed windows on terminal east end of Dwight Way, near Sports Lane in the past two years.
She did say one recent incident had a positive outcome: “A good Samaritan found the missing purse and called the victim. It still had all the credit cards and cash in it! (I think they [the thieves] were spooked by almost getting caught).” She said police have a suspect and are following up with the car license plate. Berkeleyside will attempt to find out more from UCPD.
Wednesday, Feb. 18
There were three disturbance calls: at 6:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Alcatraz Avenue; at 7:02 a.m. at Gilman Street and Eastshore Highway; and at 9:30 a.m. in the 2300 block of Prince. In the Prince Street incident, police arrested 43-year-old Scott Collins on suspicion of indecent exposure. He is no longer in custody, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
Police arrested 45-year-old Jeffrey Edwards at 1:20 a.m. at Virginia and Oxford streets on suspicion of attempted burglary and possession of burglary tools after a call related to auto burglary. He appears to have been sentenced after entering a plea for carrying a concealed dirk or dagger, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
There were two home burglaries, at 9:10 a.m. in the 2900 block of Wheeler Street, and at 10 a.m. in the 2700 block of Woolsey Street.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 5 p.m. from an unlisted location, and at 7 p.m. from Grant Street and Allston.
There was a felony battery at 7:20 p.m. in the 1800 block of University. According to Berkeley Police Officer Jennifer Coats, department spokeswoman, officers responded to a report of a fight near the corner of University and Martin Luther King Jr. Way: “It doesn’t appear any arrests were made and the victim was transported to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.” Coats said the male victim is a Berkeley resident. One witness told Berkeleyside he had seen something other than a fight: “It wasn’t a fight but closer to a curb stomping, perhaps a gang assault.” The witness said dozens of people saw the incident unfold: “Car stops, four guys get out and beat the snot out of some kid before people scare them off and cops show up.” The tipster also said, “When the first guy got out of the car there was sort of a ‘do you have a problem?’ accusation from him before he punched the guy straight in the face.” Coats said no further details were available at the time she checked because the report had not been uploaded into the computer system.
Someone stole a $200 yellow 24-speed bicycle from the racks at the North Berkeley BART station, reported the BART police. The theft happened between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m.
There was a felony sexual assault at 10 p.m. in the 2200 block of Ashby.
There was a commercial burglary at 11 p.m. in the 2200 block of Shattuck.
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 in brief 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.
Related:
2 men charged after fatal Berkeley shooting (02.23.15)
Police find empty house after reported hostage call (02.21.15)
Berkeley police arrest 2 after December killing (02.20.15)
Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, Feb. 5-11 (02.20.15)
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