This overview of recent crime in Berkeley is based on reports to the Berkeley Police unless otherwise noted. Please share photos, videos and 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 and rely on our readers to help us stay informed.
From June 18-24, there were reports of five robberies, 24 burglaries, six assaults or batteries, one weapon-involved call and two felony sexual assaults, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 15 stolen vehicles, 15 disturbances and 35 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Significant incidents reported by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included a burglary and an attempted burglary. 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, June 18
There were two disturbance calls, at 1:57 a.m. in the 3000 block of Shattuck Avenue, and at 10:39 a.m. in the 2600 block of Hillegass Avenue.
There were three commercial burglaries: at 4 a.m. in the 2200 block of San Pablo Avenue; at 6:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Hopkins Street; and at 6:30 p.m. in the 2600 block of Alcatraz Avenue.
There were three home burglaries: at 9:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of Blake Street; at 10 p.m. in the 1400 block of Alcatraz; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of Ellsworth Street.
Friday, June 19
There were six disturbance calls: at 12:08 a.m. at Telegraph Avenue and Parker Street; at 1:29 a.m. in the 1500 block of La Loma Avenue; at 9:06 a.m. in the 1800 block of Fourth Street; at 9:15 a.m. in the 2100 block of Jefferson Street; at 4:45 p.m. in the 1700 block of Fourth; and at 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of Belvedere Avenue.
There were three commercial burglaries: at 2:45 a.m. in the 1400 block of San Pablo; at 9 a.m. in the 3100 block of San Pablo; and at 6 p.m. in the 2300 block of Dwight Way.
There were two felony assaults or batteries, at 9 a.m. at Bancroft Way and Dana Street, and at 9:25 p.m. at Fourth and University Avenue.
There were two home burglaries, at 1:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Keoncrest Drive, and at 3:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Gilman Street.
A vehicle was stolen at 9:45 p.m. in the 3000 block of Shattuck Avenue.
Saturday, June 20
There was a felony sexual assault at 2 a.m. in the 2900 block of Adeline Street.
There was a home burglary at 3:31 a.m. in the 2700 block of Channing Way.
There was a commercial burglary at 4:08 a.m. in the 1800 block of Solano Avenue.
Four vehicles were stolen: at noon in the 1800 block of San Antonio Avenue; at 4 p.m. in the 2600 block of Regent Street; at 6 p.m. in the 1000 block of Cragmont Avenue; and at 10 p.m. in the 1700 block of Harmon Street.
Someone tried to break into a unit at University Village in Albany at 9:30 p.m. According to the police log, someone tried to get into a ground-floor apartment through the window, but nothing was taken. UCPD released a statement about the incident: “The suspect removed a screen from a window of the residence and attempted to take a laptop that had been placed near the window. The suspect was scared away by the resident. The suspect was last seen fleeing the scene on a bicycle. There is no
description of the suspect due to low lighting.”
A woman reported to the BART Police that, while half asleep and seated in her rented U-Haul truck on the west side of the Ashby BART station, a man reached through an unlocked door and took her AT&T cellphone, valued at $30, from her “fanny pack.” He fled toward Adeline Street, and police were unable to find him.
A Berkeley man forced a United Airlines flight from Rome to divert to Belfast, Ireland, after he grew aggressive en route, according to the airline, over nuts and crackers. Read more on Berkeleyside.
Sunday, June 21
There were two commercial burglaries, at midnight in the 1700 block of Alcatraz, and at 9 p.m. in the same block.
There was a robbery at 8:27 a.m. in the 1400 block of Shattuck Avenue. Police arrested Therren Carmical, 36, on suspicion of robbery. He remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $220,000, and was scheduled for a hearing July 2 to review the bail, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 9:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of Russell Street, and at 3:30 p.m. at Oxford Street and Hearst Avenue.
There was a felony sexual assault at 3 p.m. in the 500 block of Gilman Street.
Monday, June 22
There was a home burglary at 7 a.m. in the 1200 block of Oregon Street.
Via the BART Police: Someone stole an EVO Vantage bicycle, valued at $440, from the bike racks at the North Berkeley BART station between 10 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday. The bicycle had been secured with a cable.
Also reported by the BART Police, at about 10:20 a.m., a female victim was walking down the Ashby BART stairwell, leading from the street into the station, when a man tried to grab her iPhone 6 from her hand. She “struggled with the suspect to maintain her Iphone but the suspect was able to gain control of the phone” and fled on foot. Two people chased the man, who discarded the phone, which later was recovered. According to a brief description released by the BART Police, the witnesses pointed the man out to Berkeley Police officers, who detained him a couple blocks from the station. BART officers arrived and took over the investigation. The victim and one of the witnesses identified the man — Joshua Wilson, 21 — as the person who took the phone, and he was arrested and booked into Berkeley City Jail on suspicion of robbery and probation violation. The victim suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident but required no medical treatment. Wilson remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail with a bail of $60,000 and is scheduled for further pretrial Tuesday, July 7.
There were two disturbance calls, at 11:45 a.m. at Bateman and Webster streets, and at 9:54 p.m. in the 2100 block of McKinley Avenue. Police arrested Reginald Evans, 48, in connection with the incident on McKinley on suspicion of being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition.
Three vehicles were stolen: at noon in the 1400 block of Grizzly Peak Boulevard; at 7 p.m. in the 1900 block of Alcatraz; and at 9 p.m. at Eton Avenue and Woolsey Street.
Tuesday, June 23
There were three home burglaries: at 8:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of Chestnut Street; at 9:35 a.m. in the 1200 block of Ordway Street; and at 11 a.m. in the 1700 block of Vine Street.
Via the BART Police: A victim reported the theft of a bike (unknown brand or model) from the bike racks at the North Berkeley BART station sometime between 6:15 p.m. Monday and 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. The bike was secured with a U-lock. Both the bike and lock were taken.
Three vehicles were stolen: at 9 a.m. in the 700 block of Dwight Way; at 10 p.m. in the 2300 block of Ward Street; and at 10 p.m. in the 3100 block of Eton.
There were four disturbance calls: at 10 a.m. in the 2500 block of Ellsworth; at 1:57 p.m. in the 1100 block of Glen Avenue; at 7:36 p.m. in the 1800 block of Acton Street; and at 8:45 p.m. in the 2600 block of Derby Street.
UCPD responded to a burglary at 11:42 a.m. at Hildebrand Hall which resulted in the theft of a black Lenovo Think Pad worth $500.
There were two commercial burglaries, at 5:15 p.m. in the 2900 block of Telegraph Avenue, and at 8:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Sacramento Street.
Police arrested a 35-year-old Berkeley man on a warrant for gambling in connection with a disturbance May 7 at about 12:40 p.m. in the 2100 block of Shattuck. Police arrested Roderick Johnson at 8 p.m. Tuesday. He remains in custody without bail at Berkeley Jail, according to Alameda County sheriff’s department records online. He is scheduled for arraignment July 13. Two other defendants have been named in connection with the case, but are not in custody: Devin Mccalope and Keoni Temple.
Wednesday, June 24
There were two commercial burglaries, at 1:03 a.m. in the 2500 block of Ninth Street, and at 10 p.m. in the 1500 block of Shattuck Avenue.
There was a home burglary at 1 p.m. in the 100 block of Hillcrest Road.
Police handled a call involving a weapon at 4:18 p.m. at Dwight Way and Browning Street. Police arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of possession of a leaded cane (PC 22210). He is no longer in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed, according to online records from Alameda County.
There were four robberies: at 6 p.m. in the 1900 block of Allston Way; at 6 p.m. in the 2100 block of Dwight Way; at 8:09 p.m. in the 2300 block of Dwight; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Shattuck.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 6:30 p.m. in the 100 block of Hillcrest, and at 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Grizzly Peak.
There was a disturbance at 11:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Fifth Street.
Other recent incidents
Police arrested an 18-year-old man Tuesday, June 30, after they said he was involved in the theft of a purse and backpack from a woman who had stopped to tie her shoe in the 1300 block of Virginia Street at about 8:25 p.m. According to Officer Jennifer Coats, Berkeley Police spokeswoman, the victim had been walking when she stopped, set down her backpack and began to tie her shoe. Two people grabbed her purse and backpack, then ran away on foot. A witness tried to chase after the thieves but lost them as they ran through the North Berkeley BART station, said Coats. Officers responded to the area and saw a possible suspect running into yards in the 1600 block of Short Street. Police arrested Kac Miller, 18, of Oakland on suspicion of grand theft from a person and an outstanding warrant. The second suspect was not apprehended.
A man arrested while allegedly carrying a concealed firearm in Berkeley in May has been sentenced. According to court papers, police arrested Vanak Lorm, 18, in front of St. Helena Liquors while responding to a report about a group of people seen in the area casing a vehicle. When police questioned the group, Lorm told Officer Jaylon Debruin, according to court papers, that he had a firearm and was on probation. Police searched Lorm and found him to have a loaded firearm tucked into his pants. Police arrested Lorm at about 11:45 p.m. May 16. The Alameda County district attorney’s office subsequently charged him with three felonies related to the gun. He remains in custody and has since been sentenced in connection with the case.
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:
Berkeley police respond to bank robbery downtown (07.01.15)
Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, June 11-17 (06.30.15)
Berkeley police investigate shooting on Ashby (06.26.15)
Get the latest Berkeley news in your inbox with Berkeleyside’s free Daily Briefing. And make sure to bookmark Berkeleyside’s pages on Facebook and Twitter. You don’t need an account on those sites to view important information.
