Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, July 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 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 — 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 July 9-15, there were reports of nine robberies, 13 burglaries, 20 assaults or batteries, four weapon-involved calls and one sexual assault, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 12 stolen vehicles, 13 disturbances and 38 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Significant incidents reported by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included one assault, four burglaries and a weapons call. 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, July 9

There were four robberies: at 12:15 a.m. in the 2000 block of Ashby Avenue; at 9:15 a.m. in the 2100 block of Oxford Street; at 1:25 p.m. in the 1800 block of Ashby; and at 10:25 p.m. in the 1300 block of Peralta Avenue.

There were two commercial burglaries, at 3:46 a.m. in the 2500 block of Ninth Street, and at 10:15 p.m. in the 2200 block of Oxford. Police arrested a 47-year-old man in connection with the burglary on Oxford but charges do not appear to have been filed, and he is no longer in custody, according to online records from the Alameda County sheriff’s department.

UCPD received two burglary reports. One incident took place at 216 Wellman Hall between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 6:40 a.m. Thursday. The burglar smashed a door or window and made off with an Apple iMac desktop computer and monitor valued at $3,700. In the second incident, at Deutsch Hall, Unit 1, a thief stole $500 from three teenage girls, ages 15, 16 and 17. According to UCPD, the incident took place July 7 but was reported Thursday evening. The case remains under investigation.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 7:30 a.m. in the 2000 block of Berkeley Way, and at 11 p.m. in the 1200 block of Berkeley Way.

There was a second-response call at 10 a.m. in the 2500 block of College Avenue.

There were two felony assaults or batteries, at 10:27 a.m. at University Avenue and Chestnut Street, and at 5:40 p.m. at Hearst Avenue and Grant Street.

There were two disturbance calls, at 2:19 p.m. in the 3000 block of Telegraph Avenue, and at 3:53 p.m. in the 2900 block of Ninth.

There were three home burglaries: at 5:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Roble Road; at 6:10 p.m. in the 2100 block of Oxford; and at 9:15 p.m. in the 1400 block of Spruce Street.

From the BART Police: A records check on a person detained at the downtown Berkeley station at 7:35 p.m. on suspicion of public intoxication revealed a $50,000 arrest warrant out of Oakland for vandalism. The subject was placed under arrest in connection with both.

There were 13 burglaries (shown in black) reported over this period, via CrimeMapping.com. The prior week there were 12. There were also nine robberies (in blue), following five the prior week. Click the map for a list.

Friday, July 10

There were two home burglaries, at 4:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of McGee Avenue, and at 11 a.m. in the 1300 block of Carleton Street. Police arrested Ignacio Rivera, 24, on suspicion of felony burglary at 4:52 a.m. in connection with the incident on McGee. He is no longer in custody and is scheduled for further pre-trial Aug. 27 at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.

There was a disturbance at 4:01 p.m. in the 1700 block of Sixth Street.

There were two vehicles stolen, at 5 p.m. in the 2400 block of Ridge Road, and at 7 p.m. at California Street and Dwight Way.

UCPD arrested a 51-year-old man at People’s Park at about 5:45 p.m. in connection with a misdemeanor warrant, and possession of a switchblade knife on UC Berkeley property. He was taken to Berkeley Jail.

There was an attempted robbery at 9:20 p.m. in the 300 block of Somerset Place. A 58-year-old woman was threatened with a gun and then pistol-whipped during the incident, police said. Read more on Berkeleyside.

Someone reportedly brandished a weapon at 10:10 p.m. in the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue.

Saturday, July 11

There were two robberies, at 2:25 a.m. in the 2100 block of Kittredge Street, and at 11:15 p.m. in the 1300 block of 67th Street.

There was a felony assault or battery at 3 p.m. in the 2100 block of Jefferson Avenue.

At 6:32 p.m. a BART patron reported the theft of his $700 blue Alubike men’s hybrid bicycle, while cable locked at the Ashby station, in late June.

There was a home burglary at 10:45 p.m. in the 2500 block of Woolsey Street.

There was a second-response call at 11:43 p.m. in the 2400 block of Ellsworth Street.

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

Sunday, July 12

There were two disturbance calls, at 4:10 a.m. at Tremont and Woolsey streets, and at 10:21 p.m. in the 3100 block of Shattuck.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 2:30 p.m. in the 2300 block of Prospect Street, and at 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of 63rd Street.

According to UCPD, someone smashed a window and kicked in a door at Moses Hall on the UC Berkeley campus sometime before 6 p.m. and burglarized multiple rooms. The case remains under investigation.

Monday, July 13

There was a home burglary at 11 a.m. in the 1700 block of Arch Street.

A vehicle was stolen at 5 p.m. in the 3100 block of Shattuck.

From the BART Police: A patron reported the theft of a gray 21-speed Specialized bicycle from the bike racks at the North Berkeley station between 9 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. The bike had been secured with a U-lock.

UCPD received an attempted burglary report at 7:23 p.m. regarding the Spieker Aquatic Complex, at 2301 Bancroft Way. According to UCPD, someone broke a key pad and tampered with a lock. The incident, which occurred between 5 p.m. and 7:25 p.m., remains under investigation.

There were 38 thefts or burglaries from vehicles, via CrimeMapping. There were 28 the prior week. There were also 12 vehicles stolen (in purple). Click the map for a list of incidents.

Tuesday, July 14

There were two home burglaries, at 9:40 a.m. in the 1400 block of Josephine Street, and at noon in the 1600 block of Francisco Street.

There were two disturbance calls, at 2 p.m. at Russell and King streets, and at 6 p.m. in the 1400 block of Oregon Street.

A vehicle was stolen at 2 p.m. in the 1200 block of Ashby.

UCPD arrested two people who got into a fight at 2:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Hall of Science parking lot, at 1 Centennial Drive. Police arrested two men, ages 21 and 22, on suspicion of several crimes, including domestic battery, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and criminal threats. UCPD said felony charges were not, however, ultimately filed by the district attorney’s office.

There were two calls involving a gun or other weapon, at 2:49 p.m. at Seventh Street and University Avenue, and at 6:48 p.m. at Sacramento and Fairview streets. Police arrested 53-year-old Robert Hickmon in connection with the incident on University on suspicion of possession of a firearm, which is a felony, and several drug-related misdemeanors. Hickmon remains in custody and has been sentenced, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department. His next hearing date was not available.

Police arrested Taj Williams, 21, after an auto burglary at 7:40 p.m. at Seawall Drive and University. Williams remains in custody without bail at Santa Rita Jail, and several firearms charges appear to have been added to his online record, according to the Alameda County sheriff’s department. He is scheduled for a procedural hearing Aug. 31 at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.

There were two robberies, at 9:50 p.m. in the 2400 block of Milvia Street, and at 10:55 p.m. at McGee Avenue and Derby Street.

Wednesday, July 15

There was a second-response call at 12:04 a.m. at an unlisted location.

There were two home burglaries, at 6 a.m. in the 1300 block of Ordway Street, and at 11:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Ada Street.

Police served a search warrant and arrested a man in the 600 block of 30th Avenue in Oakland, said Officer Jennifer Coats, Berkeley Police spokeswoman, in response to a question from Berkeleyside. A Berkeleyside reader tipped us off about the operation after seeing “many (10+) cars full of police in full artillery staging” downtown that morning. Said Coats, who did not provide additional details about what prompted the search, “The operation stemmed from an ongoing BPD investigation.” Police served the search warrant and arrested a 23-year-old Oakland man on suspicion of burglary. He is no longer in custody, and online records were incomplete, so it could not be determined prior to publication time whether charges ultimately were filed.

There were three disturbance calls: at 8:24 a.m. in the 2700 block of College Avenue; at 10 a.m. at Shattuck Avenue and Dwight Way; and at 3:25 p.m. in the 2300 block of San Pablo Avenue.

Someone reportedly brandished a weapon at 10:50 a.m. in the 2000 block of Kittredge. According to Coats, “There was a disturbance between two male subjects. During the disturbance a bottle was broken, and one of the subjects cut their hand. He called BPD. The other subject walked away. The involved party who was injured was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Officers attempted to determine what occurred, but the involved party was not very cooperative with the investigation. We were unable to locate the other involved party.”

Police arrested 24-year-old Jon Baker Jr. in Richmond in connection with a warrant for a 2014 burglary in Berkeley. Baker was released from custody on a $70,000 bond, but is scheduled for further pre-trial Aug. 10 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.

Four vehicles were stolen: at 11:36 a.m. in the 1900 block of San Pablo Avenue; at 7:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Arch Street; at 10 p.m. in the 1900 block of Stuart Street; and at 10:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Shattuck.

There was a felony sexual assault at noon in the 1000 block of University Avenue.

From the BART Police, a man reported that his green 2000 Honda Civic was stolen while it was parked between 6:45 a.m. and 8:10 p.m. from the North Berkeley station.

Other recent incidents

A robber struck a woman on the head and took her iPhone 6 at the North Berkeley BART station at 4:55 p.m. Friday, July 24, according to the BART Police. The woman told police she had been near the pay phones by the station entrance when the man assaulted her and robbed her of her phone. The suspect fled from the station in an unknown direction. The woman sustained a minor injury to her head and received medical attention. Authorities said they were unable to locate the phone because it had been turned off.

Also Friday night, Berkeley police officers detained a group of juveniles after they were reportedly hurling rocks at a vehicle, trying to break its windows and shouting racial epithets. According to scanner traffic, at around 10:20 p.m., police received a report about the group in the 7-11 parking lot at 1501 University. Police detained some members of the group, but they were ultimately released to their parents because no one could identify them definitively, police said.

On Tuesday, July 21, at approximately 3:45 a.m. UCPD received a report of a window-smash burglary at the Haas School of Business. UCPD discovered that more than 20 offices had been broken into and computers had been taken. Last week, UCPD put out a statement regarding “an upswing in burglaries via window smash on the Berkeley campus” in recent months. Buildings recently reporting burglaries are North Gate Hall, Dwinelle, Cory and (as noted above) Wellman and Moses halls. Police ask anyone with information about these incidents to call Detective Harry Benningson at 510-642-4909 or email him at hbennigson@berkeley.edu.

The CHP released a new study that found a 39% increase in the percentage of California motorists seen using a cellphone while driving. According to the CHP, “This year, 9.2 percent of motorists were spotted using a cellphone while driving, up from 6.6 percent of drivers in 2014. The highest level recorded since research began was 10.8 percent of motorists using a cellphone in 2012.” Read more, and find a link to the full report.

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