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 Oct. 1-7, there were reports of six robberies, 13 burglaries, 18 assaults or batteries, two weapon-involved calls and four sexual assaults, according to CrimeMapping.com. There were also 10 stolen vehicles, 17 disturbances and 28 auto break-ins or thefts from vehicles reported. A burglary and three vehicle thefts were reported by the University of California Police Department (UCPD). 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 unless otherwise noted by the beginning of that time period.
Thursday, Oct. 1
There were five disturbance calls: at 12:07 a.m. in the 2100 block of Kittredge Street; at 6:30 a.m. in the 2100 block of University Avenue; at 10 a.m. in the 2300 block of California Street; at 10:15 a.m. in the 1500 block of Bonita Street; and at 3 p.m. in the 2100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
There were two misdemeanor sexual assaults, at noon in the 1700 block of San Pablo Avenue, and at 11:25 p.m. at Shattuck Avenue and Haste Street.
There was a call involving a gun or other weapon at 2 p.m. in the 2300 block of Ninth Street.
There was a felony battery at 11:03 p.m. in the 2200 block of Bonar Street. Police arrested Berkeley resident 22-year-old Laquon Waker, also known as Laquon Walker, on suspicion of battery with serious bodily injury, a felony. He is no longer in custody but is scheduled for a sentencing hearing Nov. 18.
Friday, Oct. 2
Four vehicles were stolen: at midnight in the 200 block of Northgate Avenue; at noon in the 1700 block of Alcatraz Avenue; at 2 p.m. in the 2200 block of Piedmont Avenue; and at 11:59 p.m. in the 1300 block of Queens Road.
Police arrested 18-year-old Reginald Jackson of Berkeley on suspicion of robbery in connection with an incident in the 900 block of Heinz Avenue. He is no longer in custody but is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Nov. 19 at 2 p.m.
There were two disturbance calls, at 9:35 a.m. in the 100 block of Tunnel Road, and at 9:$5 a.m. in the 800 block of Page Street.
There was a felony sexual assault at 3:36 p.m. in the 1900 block of Allston Way.
There were two robberies, at 3:45 p.m. in the 2900 block of Linden Avenue, and at 9:27 p.m. in the 2500 block of Piedmont.
There was a second-response call at 10:41 p.m. in the 2600 block of Regent Street.
Saturday, Oct. 3
Someone reportedly brandished a weapon at 11:30 a.m. in the 300 block of 63rd Street.
There was a disturbance at 6:55 p.m. in the 700 block of Hearst Avenue.
According to the BART Police, the Ashby station agent reported at 7:50 p.m. that a man had threatened to shoot her, but no weapon was seen. The man left the station but officers found him at Adeline Street and Ashby Avenue. The man was not armed, but “officers determined he was in need of emergency psychiatric care.” He was taken by ambulance to John George Psychiatric Hospital.
There were two home burglaries, at 9 p.m. in the 1500 block of Parker Street, and at 11 p.m. in the 2300 block of Parker.
Two men in their 20s wearing all black clothing snatched a cellphone at about 9:10 p.m. from the hand of a man on the platform at North Berkeley BART, the BART Police reported. The suspects fled to the street and responding officers were unable to find them.
BART officers responded to the downtown Berkeley station at about 10:05 p.m. for a report of a man acting erratically on the platform. Officers found the man and detained him without incident. A record check showed him to have an outstanding $10,000 warrant for trespassing held by Burlingame Police. The man was arrested on the warrant and booked into Glenn Dyer Jail.
Sunday, Oct. 4
Three vehicles were stolen: at 1 a.m. at Piedmont and Stuart Street; at 8 a.m. in the 1800 block of Berkeley Way; and at 6:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Fairview Street.
Police arrested 22-year-old Amanda Bivens at 2:15 a.m. in connection with a robbery in August that had already netted one arrest. The robbery took place Aug. 31 at about 10:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of Berkeley Way. Police already arrested 19-year-old Ayvreigh Dison in connection with the case. She and Bivens are being held without bail and are scheduled for a sentencing hearing Nov. 16.
There was a home burglary at 3 a.m. in the 800 block of San Diego Road.
There were two robberies, at 6:10 a.m. in the 900 block of University Avenue, and at 11:40 a.m. in the 1200 block of Carleton Street.
There was a disturbance at 2:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Sixth Street.
Monday, Oct. 5
There were three home burglaries: at midnight in the 2900 block of Harper Street; at 7 p.m. in the 600 block of Santa Barbara Road; and at 10 p.m. in the 400 block of Boynton Avenue.
There were two disturbance calls, at 9 a.m. in the 2000 block of Dwight Way, and at 10:30 a.m. in the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue.
A vehicle was stolen at 12:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Carleton Street.
Police arrested 40-year-old Tracy Johnson at about 4:40 p.m. in connection with a forgery report from about an hour earlier in the 2200 block of Shattuck. Johnson remains in custody with a combined bail of $275,000 and is scheduled for a preliminary examination Friday. She was arrested on suspicion of burglary and a range of other felonies and misdemeanors.
There was a commercial burglary at 6:10 p.m. in the 1800 block of Fourth Street. Police arrested an 18-year-old woman in connection with the case but she is no longer in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed.
Tuesday, Oct. 6
There was a robbery at 9:34 a.m. at Alcatraz Avenue and King Street.
There were two felony assaults or batteries, at 11:30 a.m. at Addison and Second streets, and at 2 p.m. in the 1500 block of Blake Street. Police arrested a 69-year-old Berkeley woman in connection with the incident on Blake but she is no longer in custody and charges do not appear to have been filed.
There were two disturbance calls, at 1:23 p.m. in the 2500 block of Haste Street, and at 7:14 p.m. at Shattuck Avenue and Rose Street.
Police arrested two people in connection with an incident reported as a forgery at about 2:10 p.m. in the 700 block of Jackson Street. Arrested were Sabrina Toilolo, 22, on suspicion of grand theft, possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a controlled substance, and more; and 36-year-old Robert Flores Jr. in connection with several violations that were mostly misdemeanors. Flores is no longer in custody, but Toilolo is being held with a bail of $295,000. They are scheduled for a pretrial hearing Monday, Oct. 26, at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in downtown Oakland. The next day, in connection with the same case, police arrested Monica Mason, 36, on suspicion of grand theft, possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a controlled substance, and more. She is being held with a bail of $240,000 and had been scheduled for a pretrial hearing Tuesday morning, Oct. 21.
There was a commercial burglary at 5:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Le Roy Avenue.
There was a home burglary at 7:30 p.m. in the 200 block of Fairlawn Drive.
Police responded to Alta Bates Hospital around 7:45 p.m. for a report of a combative patient who was threatening staff with a box cutter.
Two vehicles were stolen, at 8 p.m. in the 1200 block of Burnett Street, and at 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Keeler Avenue.
There was a homicide at 8:32 p.m. in the 1600 block of Russell Street. Police arrested 24-year-old Anthony Durant after the fatal shooting of Christian Sheppard, also 24. Both men grew up in the same South Berkeley neighborhood and knew each other well. Durant remains in custody without bail at Santa Rita Jail and is scheduled for an attorney and plea hearing Monday.
BART officers responded to the North Berkeley station at about 11:15 p.m. “for a report of a male pacing on the platform and possibly suicidal.” Officers contacted the man and found him to have a court order prohibiting him from being on BART. He was arrested and taken to Santa Rita Jail.
There was a misdemeanor sexual assault at 11:18 p.m. in the 1300 block of Shattuck.
Wednesday, Oct. 7
There was a robbery at 12:50 a.m. in the 2100 block of Milvia Street.
There was a felony assault or battery at 1 a.m. in the 2400 block of Durant Avenue. Police arrested 31-year-old Berkeley resident Travis Churchill, who is listed as transient, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in custody with a bail of $35,000, and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing Thursday. Police also arrested Churchill in 2010 in connection with a spate of arson incidents in Berkeley.
There were three commercial burglaries: at 3:36 a.m. in the 1700 block of Fourth Street; at 5 p.m. in the 1000 block of Pardee Street; and at 6 p.m. in the 2800 block of Sacramento Street.
There were three disturbance calls: at 11:27 a.m. in the 3100 block of Claremont Avenue; at noon in the 2700 block of Sacramento; and at noon in the 2400 block of McKinley Avenue.
There was a home burglary at noon in the 200 block of Whitaker Avenue.
Other recent police news
The Berkeley Police Department received a $180,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for a one-year program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts aimed at decreasing traffic-related deaths and injuries. According to police, “After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions is on the rise.” Of significant concern, authorities said, are increases in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, “the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem.” Read more about the grant.
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, and UCPD crime alerts. 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:
Police announce 2 more child abduction attempts; new vehicle description (10.21.15)
Knife confiscated from Berkeley High student (10.19.15)
Berkeley police seek 3-D scanner for crime scenes (10.19.15)
BUSD: Another attempted child abduction in Berkeley (10.19.15)
2 stabbings on Telegraph; gunshots on Mabel (10.17.15)
Berkeleyside blotter: Crime in Berkeley, Sept. 24-30 (10.16.15)
Op-ed: Berkeley police do not tolerate discrimination (10.13.15)
House fire on Ellis Street sends two residents to hospital (10.13.15)
DA hopes to find cause of water intrusion that led to Berkeley balcony collapse (10.12.15)
Berkeley Police take a ‘head in the sand’ approach to racial profiling (10.12.15)
Details emerge about fatal Berkeley shooting (10.09.15)
Suspicious bag in downtown Berkeley proved safe (10.09.15)
Police: No gun found at Berkeley High; lockdown lifted (10.08.15)
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