Update, 1:25 a.m. Authorities have just confirmed this incident began in Richmond at around 10:35 p.m.
“Richmond PD officers were attempting to stop a vehicle. The suspect vehicle turned onto a dead end street and made an abrupt u-turn. The suspect vehicle then rammed her car into a marked RPD patrol car and fled,” Lt. Felix Tan, RPD spokesman, told Berkeleyside.
Police pursued the car into Berkeley where the chase ended at Bonar and Bancroft. All three occupants were taken into custody and no weapons were found. Tan said the officer was not injured but the patrol car had moderate damage.
Tan also said the driver was an adult female, and she was the only one booked on suspicion of the assault on the officer. He said RPD does not generally release the names of individuals who are arrested.
Update, 11:55 p.m. BPD tells us this is a Richmond case; no further information was available. Berkeleyside will attempt to learn more.
Update, 11:44 p.m. The neighborhood tipster tells Berkeleyside at least one of the people detained after the chase lives on the block.
He said he heard what sounded like loud reports during the pursuit: “If there wasn’t gunfire, then someone was setting off a lot of fireworks in the last 30 seconds of the chase. It was a very loud and distinct POP POP POP POP POP POP POP really quickly before everyone got out of their cars.”
He saw four Richmond Police Department cruisers on the scene after the crash. Officers on the scene were talking about looking for guns in the area that may have been discarded during the pursuit.
Update, 11:41 p.m. There were reports during the incident that a cyclist was hit at San Pablo and Heinz during the chase. Police are speaking with that cyclist now, according to scanner reports.
Update, 11:15 p.m. A BPD dispatcher tells us the agency got no reports of gunfire. Berkeleyside will find out more from the watch commander as soon as he is available.
Original post, 11:06 p.m. Police reportedly have detained three people in West Berkeley after reports of possible gunfire and a car crash around Bonar Street and Bancroft Way.
A neighborhood resident on Bonar said he saw a high-speed chase with gunfire that ended at the basketball courts at Strawberry Creek Park.
Another woman said she heard “multiple gunshots … and lots of sirens … and emergency vehicles spotted around Carleton and San Pablo.”
Berkeleyside has reached out to BPD for confirmation.
Other residents reported a “massive rush” of police vehicles on San Pablo Avenue near Dwight Way around 10:45 p.m.
After the crash, several people jumped out of the car and ran but police quickly detained them, the neighborhood resident said.
He could see what appeared to be half a dozen police vehicles on the basketball court at the park. Three people appeared to have been detained.
A black Kia sedan had crashed, he added.
There were reports over the scanner that the vehicle may have hit something on 10th street but the reports had not been confirmed.
There was some indication over the scanner that the Richmond Police Department had pursued a driver into Berkeley for an assault with a deadly weapon that was identified as the vehicle.
Berkeleyside has asked police for confirmation and will update this story as more information becomes available.
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