Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, July 16-22

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 16-22, there were reports of five robberies, 17 burglaries, 16 assaults or batteries, no weapon-involved calls and one sexual assault, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 13 stolen vehicles, eight disturbances and 39 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. Significant incidents reported by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) included one 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, July 16

Four vehicles were stolen: at midnight in the 2300 block of Prospect Street; at 5 a.m. in the 800 block of Euclid Avenue; at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Way and Shattuck Avenue; and at 9 p.m. in the 2000 block of Ward Street.

There was a disturbance at 4:08 p.m. at California Street and University Avenue.

There was a home burglary at 6 p.m. in the 1800 block of Harmon Street.

There was a robbery at 11:07 p.m. at Acton and Russell streets.

There was a commercial burglary at 11:10 p.m. in the 2100 block of Oxford Street.

There were 17 burglaries (shown in black) reported over this period, via CrimeMapping.com. The prior week there were 13. There were also five robberies (in blue), following nine the prior week. Click the map for a list.

Friday, July 17

There was a home burglary at 10 a.m. in the 600 block of Creston Road.

There was a commercial burglary at 6 p.m. in the 800 block of Bancroft Way.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 6 p.m. in the 2100 block of Shattuck Avenue, and at 9:30 p.m. at Derby Street and Benvenue Avenue.

There was a disturbance at 6:34 p.m. in the 3000 block of Stanton Street.

A patron reported to the BART Police that his or her black Motobecane road bike was stolen from the Ashby BART bike racks, inside the paid area, between 9:30 a.m. and 9:25 p.m. The bike had been secured with a cable lock.

Photo: Jennifer Waicukauski — Photo: Looking Glass

Saturday, July 18

There was a felony sexual assault at midnight in the 2200 block of Bancroft Way.

There were three commercial burglaries: at 4:09 a.m. in the 1000 block of Ashby Avenue at Looking Glass Photo; at 12:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of College Avenue; and at 5:30 p.m. in the 2400 block of Shattuck. Looking Glass Photo released surveillance video of the alleged burglar. See the Berkeleyside story and video.

There was a disturbance at 1:15 p.m. at Haste and Bowditch streets. Police arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of burglary and theft, but he no longer appears to be in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed, according to online records from the Alameda County sheriff’s department.

Two vehicles were stolen, at 7 p.m. in the 1600 block of Chestnut Street, and at 8 p.m. in the 2700 block of Haste Street.

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

Sunday, July 19

There was a felony assault or battery at 1:07 a.m. at Channing Way and Milvia Street.

There was a commercial burglary at 2:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of San Pablo Avenue.

Police arrested Elisha Gutierrez-Klazson, 19, at 4:55 a.m. on suspicion of burglary and hit-and-run causing property damage in the 1100 block of Allston Way. She is no longer in custody but is scheduled for a preliminary examination Sept. 9 at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.

There were two home burglaries, at 10:30 a.m. in the 3000 block of Stanton Street, and at 5:19 p.m. in the 1200 block of Ashby Avenue.

A driver reported to the BART Police that his or her white 2005 Toyota Corolla was burglarized while parked in the Woolsey Street parking lot, near Ashby BART, between noon and 8:30 p.m. The thief shattered the vehicle’s rear passenger wing window and took a Garmin brand GPS system, iPod Touch and four purses for a total monetary loss of $450.

There was a disturbance at 9:22 p.m. in the 1700 block of University Avenue.

Monday, July 20

Police arrested Khaled Mohammed Al-Asad, 39, at 1:41 a.m. for a warrant identifying him as a fugitive who had been sought for arrest. Al-Asad remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail, where he is being held without bail. He is scheduled for an extradition hearing at the Hayward Hall of Justice on Aug. 13. A motion to dismiss the charge against him has also been filed. He appears to have been wanted out of Alabama, according to CrimeStoppers, on suspicion of second-degree theft.

There were two disturbance calls, at 2:34 a.m. in the 2100 block of Fourth Street, and at 1:40 p.m. in the 1800 block of Acton Street.

There was a felony assault or battery at 10:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of Center Street.

There were 39 thefts or burglaries from vehicles, via CrimeMapping. There were 38 the prior week. There were also 13 vehicles stolen (in purple). Click the map for a list of incidents.

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. In July, 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 previously) 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. (This information appeared first in last week’s crime blotter for timeliness.)

There were three commercial burglaries, one at noon in the 1700 block of University Avenue, and two at 7:10 p.m. in the 2300 block of San Pablo Avenue.

There was a home burglary at 3 p.m. in the 1600 block of Chestnut Street.

A vehicle was stolen at 4 p.m. in the 700 block of Harrison Street.

There were three robberies: at 7:20 p.m. at Oregon and Sacramento streets; at 7:40 p.m. in the 800 bock of Addison Street; and at 10:35 p.m. in the 1500 block of Oregon.

Wednesday, July 22

Four vehicles were stolen: at midnight in the 2400 block of Shattuck; at 4:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Harrison Street; at 4:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Spruce Street; and at 10 p.m. in the 2300 block of 10th Street.

There were two commercial burglaries, at 3:59 a.m. in the 700 block of Addison Street, and at 12:31 p.m. in the 2900 block of College Avenue.

Police arrested John Weddle, 30, at 10:37 a.m. in connection with a robbery in Albany’s University Village in May. The initial incident took place at 9:31 p.m. May 21 near Codornices Creek and Fifth Street. During the strong-arm robbery, three people took a backpack containing a black Galaxy S5 phone and a Motorola phone from a 17-year-old boy. (Read about the initial incident on Berkeleyside.) Weddle appears to have been the only person arrested thus far. He is no longer in custody, having posted a $50,000 bond, but is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Aug. 10 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland.

There were two disturbance calls: at 10:44 a.m. in the 1900 block of Sixth Street, and at 10:50 a.m. in the 2200 block of McKinley Avenue.

Police advised the public to avoid the area of Hopkins Street and Monterey Avenue in North Berkeley on after a report of the discovery of a suspicious package. Read complete coverage on Berkeleyside.

There was a felony assault or battery at 4:10 p.m. in the 2000 block of Center Street.

There was a home burglary at 9 p.m. in the 2900 block of Ashby Avenue.

There was an armed robbery at 9:20 p.m. at Curtis and Francisco streets. Police arrested two men, ages 28 and 36, on suspicion of robbery and assault with a firearm and, but they are no longer in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed, according to online records from the Alameda County sheriff’s department.

Other recent incidents

A Berkeley man was violently assaulted while trying to get into his vehicle Sunday at 9:30 p.m. According to Berkeley Police Officer Jennifer Coats, the man was trying to get into his vehicle at Seventh Street and Channing Way on Aug. 2 when another man threw him to the ground, then punched and kicked him. During the assault, a chain was torn from the man’s neck. The suspect fled the area and managed to evade capture. The victim was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. Coats said the incident is believed to have been a robbery attempt. Police later found the chain, which had been discarded by the suspect or torn off during the assault, Coats said.

An officer on patrol Saturday, Aug. 1, spotted a stolen truck parked in North Berkeley, but the driver fled and ended up crashing in a yard on Posen Avenue. The officer noticed the pick-up truck sometime after 11 p.m. in a parking lot near Monterey Avenue and Hopkins Street, and ran the license plate, which came back stolen out of San Francisco. While the officer was trying to detain a woman who had been in the truck, she jumped back inside through the passenger door and drove off. She crashed in a yard nearby, in the 1500 block of Posen, then fled. Police responded to the area and ultimately had the vehicle towed. One local resident described what looked to be “20 police with 10 cars, lights blazing, blocking the street” and a crime scene truck in the area. Berkeleyside has requested an update from the Berkeley Police Department regarding whether the driver was arrested.

On Friday, July 31, BART officers responded to the downtown Berkeley station for a report of a man brandishing a weapon. An officer detained the man as he tried to flee from the station. He was placed under arrest and booked on suspicion of brandishing a weapon. (BART does not routinely provide in its daily crime reports the names of subjects arrested.)

A thief stole a catalytic converter from a vehicle parked at the North Berkeley BART station Wednesday, July 29, according to the BART Police. The thief took the converter from a 2002 blue Honda Accord while it was parked at the station between 1:30 and 6 p.m.

A duo robbed a man in the North Berkeley BART station parking lot shortly before 11 p.m. last Tuesday, July 28, according to the BART police. The man said two males in all black clothing approached him on foot, pointed a handgun at him and demanded his wallet, cellphone and prescription glasses. They fled westbound after he complied. Four days prior, July 24, a robber struck a woman on the head and took her iPhone 6 at the North Berkeley BART station at 4:55 p.m. 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. (Berkeleyside first reported the July 24 incident in last week’s blotter for timeliness.)

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