Exclusive: Berkeley Police arrested two Berkeley men after an incident early Wednesday morning in which a victim was robbed at gunpoint, forced into a bathroom in his own home with the suspect, and then had his car stolen, according to authorities.
BPD received a call at 7 a.m. about a robbery and car-jacking in the 2200 block of Seventh Street (between Bancroft and Allston Way) in West Berkeley, according to Officer Byron White of the Berkeley Police Department.
White said a male 24-year-old victim told officers that he had just come home, to the house he shares with his 77-year-old grandmother and a 22-year-old companion of hers. The victim was driving his grandmother’s car. After getting out of the car, he was confronted by a man holding a handgun who emerged from from the shadows near another apartment building.
The suspect demanded the victim give him his keys and cellphone. He then demanded to use his restroom.
Once inside the home, the suspect forced the grandmother out of the bathroom, and then forced the victim to go into the bathroom with him while he used the facilities. The female friend was asleep in another room at the time.
The suspect left taking the grandmother’s car.
One hour later, at 8 a.m., BPD received an alert about a reckless driver on University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The car matched the description of the earlier incident, said White.
Police stopped the car at 1198 University Ave. — at the Solar Car Wash, a block east of San Pablo Avenue — and arrested Joseph Anthony Skyler, 25, from Berkeley, as well as a male passenger in the car, Harold Daniel Dennis, 24, of Berkeley, who was arrested for possession of stolen property.
There was a loaded handgun and a puppy in the car, said White. Skyler and Dennis were booked into jail and the puppy was taken to Berkeley Animal Control.
This story was updated with new information from the Berkeley Police.
Do you rely on Berkeleyside for your local news? You can support independent local journalism bybecoming a Berkeleyside member. You can choose either a monthly payment or a one-time contribution.
