Two teenage Oakland girls were arrested last week after back-to-back strong-arm robberies in North Berkeley, following an earlier robbery in Oakland, authorities report.
Wednesday night just before 11, the Berkeley Police Department got a call about a robbery at the North Berkeley BART station. It was followed within minutes by a second robbery report in the 1500 block of Virginia Street, near Sacramento Street.
According to the BART police, a woman was robbed of her wallet and purse just before 11 p.m. by two men as she was walking through the parking lot on her way to the station. BART police said, in a prepared statement, the first man was black or Hispanic in his early 20s, 5 feet 4, and wore a gray hoodie and blue jeans. The other person was “possibly a white male” in his 20s, about 5 feet 6, and wore a red hoodie, black jeans and sneakers.
The robbers fled in a silver sedan, victims told Berkeley police. An officer responding to the scene spotted a vehicle matching that description heading south on Sacramento from Cedar, and he followed it.
“When the suspect vehicle ran a solid red light in the southbound lanes of traffic on Sacramento Street at University Avenue, the Officer activated his lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle ignored the lights and sirens and turned westbound on Allston Way. A block later it was involved in a minor collision at the entrance to Strawberry Creek Park. When the car came to a stop, five suspects fled from the vehicle,” police said in a Nixle alert.
The officer caught one teenage girl on Allston Way at Bonar Street, and police set up a perimeter in the area. Police said they caught another involved teenager at San Pablo Avenue and Allston when she tried to walk out of the perimeter.
Police found stolen property from both victims inside the vehicle, which was later determined to have been stolen out of Oakland, though it had not yet been reported stolen at the time of the robberies.
Police found other stolen property in the vehicle that the Oakland Police Department said came from another robbery earlier in the night.
The two Oakland girls, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and taken to juvenile hall on suspicion of robbery. No further information was available due to privacy laws protecting minors.
Three males got away, police said.
Authorities ask anyone with information about these cases to call the BPD Robbery Detail at 510-981-5742.
Have a question about a local public safety incident? Write to crime@berkeleyside.com. Photographs and videos are always appreciated. This story was updated after publication to include additional details from the BART Police.
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