Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, April 9-15

Selected calls to the Berkeley Police, via CrimeMapping.com. Scroll down for detailed maps. Click the map above for the list. See the map key here.

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 crime@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 April 9-15, there were reports of two robberies, 16 burglaries, 19 assaults or batteries, no weapon-involved calls and one sexual assault, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 13 stolen vehicles, 11 disturbances and 31 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Reported incidents from the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included one burglary and four vandalism calls. 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, April 9

There were two home burglaries, at 11:30 a.m. in the 1700 block of Walnut Street, and at 9 p.m. in the 1700 block of Portland Avenue.

A 53-year-old Berkeley woman was hit in a crosswalk by a vehicle just after noon. She was knocked to the ground but declined transportation to the hospital, said Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats. The woman had been crossing Spruce Street at Marin Avenue when the driver turned onto Spruce from Marin and hit her. Coats said the driver, a 67-year-old Kensington man, failed to yield to the woman in the crosswalk, which was the apparent cause of the collision.

A 78-year-old Berkeley man walking on Vine Street at about 4:30 p.m. was struck in the crosswalk by a vehicle at Martin Luther King Jr. Way, according to Coats. Coats said the driver, a 73-year-old Emeryville woman, had been southbound on Martin Luther King approaching Vine when she hit the man, who had been walking east in the crosswalk. The man was taken to Highland Hospital with serious injuries. Police do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision. The man’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, Coats said.

There was a felony sexual assault at 6 p.m. in the 2000 block of Shattuck Avenue.

There was a commercial burglary at 6 p.m. in the 1600 block of Bonita Avenue.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 7 p.m. in the 800 block of Bancroft Way, and at 10:49 p.m. at California and Derby streets. Police arrested Shamari Thompson, 26, in connection with the second incident. He is no longer in custody but is scheduled to return to court April 27 for a preliminary examination hearing.

There were 16 burglaries (shown in black) reported over this period, via CrimeMapping.com. The prior week there were 13. There were also two robberies (in blue), following seven the prior week. Click the map for a list of both.

Friday, April 10

Three vehicles were stolen: at 1:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of 63rd Street; at 9:56 a.m. in the 3000 block of Adeline Street; and at 1:30 p.m. at McGee Avenue and Lincoln Street.

A 66-year-old Berkeley man was taken to the hospital after he was struck by a vehicle downtown while walking shortly before 8 a.m. According to Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats, the incident took place at Shattuck Avenue and Kittredge Street at 7:51 a.m. The driver, a 57-year-old Richmond woman, was southbound on Shattuck approaching Kittredge when she struck the man, who was walking east on Kittredge in the crosswalk. Coats said police believe, based on the preliminary investigation, that the woman hit the man after running the red light on Shattuck.

There were two home burglaries, at 8 a.m. in the 2400 block of Warring Street, and at 9:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of Harmon Street.

There was a commercial burglary at 11 a.m. in the 2800 block of San Pablo Avenue.

There was a disturbance at 2:15 p.m. in the 1500 block of Derby Street. There were also 15-20 fights within about 40 minutes after school that involved 400-500 students and non-students. Five Berkeley Unified students were arrested. Read more on Berkeleyside.

There was a felony assault or battery at 4:10 p.m. at Durant Avenue and Milvia Street.

Saturday, April 11

There was a robbery at 1:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of Milvia.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 9 a.m. in the 800 block of Channing Way, and at 5 p.m. in the 800 block of Cedar Street.

There were two home burglaries, at noon in the 900 block of Channing, and at 6:15 p.m. in the 1800 block of Sacramento Street.

There was a disturbance at 5:49 p.m. in the 2500 block of Haste Street.

As per UCPD: A female student told a campus security authority that she had been the victim of a sexual assault at a fraternity in the city of Berkeley. “The victim knew her assailant,” said UCPD in a prepared statement. “While survivors always have the right to choose to pursue a criminal complaint, no individual has pursued criminal action in this case at this point. Consequently, additional information is not available.”

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

Sunday, April 12

There was a second-response call at 12:07 a.m. in the 2800 block of Derby Street.

There was a home burglary at noon in the 1400 block of Henry Street.

As per the BART Police: A citizen reported a man at the Ashby station flea market at 3:30 p.m. who was known to have a stay-away order from the area. Officers responded and located him. They confirmed the stay-away order and arrested the man for violating it. He was taken to Santa Rita Jail. (His name was not released.)

There were two disturbance calls, at 1:55 p.m. in the 1200 block of Henry Street, and at 3:54 p.m. at Berkeley Way and McGee Avenue.

A vehicle was stolen at 10 p.m. in the 500 block of Woodmont Avenue.

Monday, April 13

A shooting that took place at Shattuck and Ashby avenues just before 1:45 a.m., which may have involved two vehicles firing at each other, sent two people to the hospital. Read more on Berkeleyside. As of April 21, no arrests for the shooting had been made, said Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats.

There were two home burglaries, at 8:15 a.m. in the 2100 block of Prince Street, and at 10 a.m. in the 2200 block of Channing.

There were three disturbance calls: at 11:13 a.m. in the 2700 block of Prince; at 3:59 p.m. in the 1500 block of Alcatraz Avenue; and at 10:30 p.m. at 2830 Bancroft Steps.

UCPD responded to a burglary at the Hellman Tennis Center, at Oxford Street and Frank Schlessinger Way at 2:30 p.m.

A vehicle was stolen at 7:30 p.m. in the 2500 block of Ellsworth Street.

There was a robbery at 8:08 p.m. in the 2000 block of San Pablo Avenue.

There were 31 thefts or burglaries from vehicles, via CrimeMapping. There were 37 the prior week. There were also 13 vehicles stolen (in purple). Click the map for a list of incidents.

Tuesday, April 14

There were two home burglaries, at 8:50 a.m. in the 2800 block of Regent Street, and at 9 a.m. in the 2700 block of Prince.

There were three disturbance calls: at 10:20 a.m. in the 2500 block of Stuart Street; at noon in the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue; and at 1:48 p.m. in the 1200 block of Hearst Avenue.

Police arrested Darren Johnson, 49, on suspicion of burglary and forgery at 2:20 p.m. in the 2000 block of San Pablo Avenue.

Three vehicles were stolen: at 6 p.m. in the 200 block of University Avenue; at 10 p.m. at Harrison and Sixth streets; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Fulton Street.

There was a felony assault or battery at 6:25 p.m. in the 1900 block of Shattuck. Police arrested Yvonne Smith, 48, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Wednesday, April 15

Police responded to an arson call at 9:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of Milvia Street. As reported earlier this week on Berkeleyside, a woman who lit two toilet paper rolls on fire at Berkeley’s City Hall while a man in a wheelchair was using the restroom has been charged with a misdemeanor by the Alameda County district attorney’s office. Dawn Carraway, 25, also was arrested in March on suspicion of attacking a BART passenger in downtown Berkeley. She remains in custody and is set for a procedural hearing April 29. Read more on Berkeleyside.

There were three home burglaries: at 9:50 a.m. in the 1800 block of Yosemite Road; at 10 a.m. in the 2200 block of Dwight Way; and at 11 p.m. in the 2500 block of Woolsey Street.

A vehicle was stolen at 4 p.m. at Curtis and Francisco streets.

Other recent incidents

A female pedestrian was taken to the hospital with minor injuries after being struck by a car Saturday, April 18, at about 2:15 p.m. One passer-by, who asked Berkeleyside to find out about the incident, said he saw “Lots of police, ambulance & streets blocked.” Berkeley Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said the driver had been westbound on Ashby Avenue waiting to turn left onto San Pablo Avenue. “The driver started to make her turn, and did not see the pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk” walking eastbound. Coats said the driver, a 40-year-old Oakland woman, could not stop in time, and struck the pedestrian, a 20-year-old Berkeley woman.

On Saturday, April 18 at approximately 12:15 a.m., Berkeley police received a report of a strong-arm robbery at Channing Way and Bowditch Street, according to a statement released by UCPD. A man was walking eastbound on Channing from Bowditch when  someone grabbed his laptop from his hand, then ran toward a white sedan. The man tried to grab back his  laptop, but failed. The suspect got into the  sedan and fled southbound on Bowditch. Police were unable to track him down. He was described as a black man in his early 20s, 6 feet tall with a slim build and dark complexion, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, hood up, and  baggy blue jeans. The vehicle was described as a 4-door sedan, possibly a Mercedes.

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.

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Other recent incidents

Emilie Raguso