Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, May 21-27

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 May 21-27, there were reports of three robberies, 28 burglaries, 11 assaults or batteries, one weapon-involved call and one sexual assault, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 12 stolen vehicles, eight disturbances and 36 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Significant incidents reported by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included a robbery, two burglaries and a stolen vehicle. 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; incidents that took place during a range of time are listed by the beginning of that time period.

Thursday, May 21

There was a commercial burglary at 12:59 a.m. in the 1100 block of Second Street.

Three vehicles were stolen: at 1:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of Seventh Street; at 9:30 a.m. in the 2000 block of Los Angeles Avenue; and at 9 p.m. in the 2700 block of Forest Avenue. According to UCPD, a thief also stole a 1996 Honda Civic from the Underhill parking lot between 9:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.

According to UCPD, a burglar stole property valued at $710 from an office in Sproul Hall sometime between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday.

There were five home burglaries: at 10 a.m. in the 1400 block of Ordway Street; at 11 a.m. in the 1900 block of Russell Street; at 4 p.m. in the 1600 block of Chestnut Street; at 6 p.m. in the 2200 block of Blake Street; and at 6:40 p.m. in the 1600 block of Allston Way.

There was a call involving a weapon at 3:54 p.m. in the 2200 block of Bonar Street. Police arrested Edward Levingston, 47, of Berkeley on suspicion of possession of nunchaku, a felony.

UCPD responded to a strong-arm robbery at about 9:30 p.m. in University Village in Albany. The robber took two mobile phones valued at $800. UCPD released the following statement: “A strong-arm robbery occurred along the Codornices Creek, near 540 Red Oak (Building 148)…. The victim, a 17-year-old male not affiliated with UCB, was contacted by three suspects who stole his backpack and then fled in a vehicle, southbound on 5th Street toward the City of Berkeley. The victims’ injuries were treated at the scene by the Albany Fire Department. UCPD, the Albany Police, and the Berkeley Police searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects.” The robbers were described as three black males about 20, one of whom had dreadlocks. All three wore dark clothing and fled in a blue vehicle similar to a Ford Focus.

There were 28 burglaries (shown in black) reported over this period, via CrimeMapping.com. The prior week there were 24. There were also three robberies (in blue), following five the prior week. Click the map for a list.

Friday, May 22

Three vehicles were stolen: at midnight in the 2500 block of 10th Street; at 6 p.m. at Parker and Ninth streets; and at 6 p.m. in the 1700 block of Bancroft Way.

There were eight home burglaries: at midnight in the 2000 block of Kittredge Street; at 8 a.m. in the 1100 block of Colusa Avenue; at 11 a.m. in the 2200 block of California Street; at 12:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Oxford Street; at 12:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of McGee Avenue; at 3:10 p.m. in the 100 block of Hillcrest Road; at 7:23 p.m. in the 1500 block of Oxford; and at 10 p.m. in the 1400 block of Lincoln Street. A woman who surprised burglars during the Hillcrest Road incident shared her experience with Berkeleyside and warned local residents to “lock up.”

Regarding the McGee incident, police shared the following information. A neighbor called police after “seeing two males climbing through the window of their neighbor’s house in the 1600 block of Allston Way. As officers arrived in the area, the two suspects fled on foot and attempted to hide in the 2100 block of McGee. The two suspects were located and detained after an extensive block search. Stolen property from the victim’s home was recovered.” The teenagers were arrested on suspicion of burglary and identified by police as two Berkeley residents, ages 16 and 17. Their names were not released due to privacy laws protecting minors.

From the BART Police: A patron flagged down an officer at the North Berkeley BART station to report a man who was drinking alcohol in the parking lot. The officer made contact with the man and found him to be a registered sex offender who had not met the conditions of his registration. He was booked into the Berkeley City Jail on suspicion of being a sex offender out of compliance.

A Vallejo man was charged with rape by use of drugs after a coworker said he had sex with her when she blacked out after celebrating her birthday in Berkeley earlier this month. Read more on Berkeleyside.

There was a report of arson at 1:18 p.m. at Ashby Avenue and Seventh Street. Read more on Berkeleyside.

Berkeley firefighters responded to a detached garage fire at 8:11 p.m. at 1625 Ward St. Said Battalion Chief Paul Cavagnaro, the building was a single-car garage with laundry room, approximately 25-by-20 feet, and was “probably a total loss.” He estimated that the fire caused $35,000 to $50,000 in damage, and said the cause was under investigation. The fire was declared under control by 8:30 p.m., and no injuries were reported.

There was a robbery at 11:40 p.m. in the 1200 block of University Avenue.

Saturday, May 23

There were two home burglaries, at 11:30 a.m. in the 2800 block of Park Street, and at 3:15 p.m. in the 1100 block of Francisco Street.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 9 p.m. in the 700 block of Peralta Avenue, and at 9:15 p.m. at Allston Way and Sacramento Street.

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

Sunday, May 24

There were two home burglaries, at 2:55 a.m. in the 900 block of Regal Road, and at noon in the 2100 block of Prince Street.

There were two commercial burglaries, at 3:20 a.m. in the 1800 block of Solano Avenue, and at 7 p.m. in the 1500 block of Hopkins Street.

There was a disturbance at 4 a.m. at Hillegass Avenue and Derby Street.

A vehicle was stolen at 5 p.m. in the 3000 block of California.

Monday, May 25

A vehicle was stolen at 5:50 a.m. in the 1700 block of Rose Street.

There was a commercial burglary at 8:06 a.m. in the 2300 block of Shattuck Avenue.

There were two disturbances, at 11:18 a.m. in the 2100 block of Parker Street, and at 12:12 p.m. at Adeline Street and Shattuck.

There was a misdemeanor sexual assault at 1:15 p.m. in the 2500 block of Telegraph Avenue.

There was a robbery at 4:36 p.m. in the 1100 block of Hearst Avenue.

There were 36 thefts or burglaries from vehicles, via CrimeMapping. There were 46 the prior week. There were also 12 vehicles stolen (in purple). Click the map for a list of incidents.

Tuesday, May 26

Five homes were burgled: at 12:33 a.m. in the 2000 block of Kittredge; at 8 a.m. in the 1400 block of California; at 10:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of California; at 12:47 p.m. in the 800 block of Southampton Avenue; and at 1:32 p.m. at an unlisted location. Berkeley Police Officer Byron White provided information about one of the incidents: “On Tuesday afternoon, there was residential burglary in the TONA neighborhood [in the 700 block of The Alameda]. After responding to the burglary, officers spotted several juveniles fleeing the area. After forming a perimeter and a search, five juveniles were captured and identified as those responsible for the burglary.” Wrote Berkeley Police Lt. Andrew Rateaver in an email to neighbors about the same incident: “We are still checking to see if they may also be responsible for [the earlier event on Southampton], and perhaps others in the area.”

Rateaver also told North Berkeley neighbors, in that email: “Overall, your area for the past… month, or so has been hit with a pattern of residential property crimes. A pattern, and not a series, because we believe the targets are similar in nature as are the times of occurrence. However, the suspects… may be few to many. They are not being perpetrated by the same one or two suspects. We believe there may be several suspects, or several groups of suspects.”

UCPD responded to the Clark Kerr Campus at about 6:30 a.m. after a report of the theft of tools and copper wire.

There were four disturbances: at 7:18 a.m. in the 1100 block of Francisco Street; at 8:55 a.m. in the 2400 block of Shattuck; at 9:15 a.m. in the 1900 block of Cedar Street; and at 4 p.m. at Durant and Telegraph avenues.

There was a robbery at 1:50 p.m. at Shattuck and Allston.

There was a commercial burglary at 7:20 p.m. in the 1600 block of Solano.

A vehicle was stolen at 8 p.m. in the 2200 block of Rose.

Authorities responded to an incident of arson at 10:29 p.m. at Center and Milvia streets.

Wednesday, May 27

A vehicle was stolen at 6 a.m. in the 2000 block of Oregon Street.

There was a disturbance at 7 p.m. in the 2600 block of Telegraph.

There was a commercial burglary at 9 p.m. in the 1800 block of Solano.

The California Highway Patrol arrested a man they said stole a car and drove against freeway traffic from Concord to Berkeley while trying to evade officers earlier in the month. Read more on Berkeleyside.

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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Emilie Raguso