A good Samaritan was assaulted in Berkeley on Monday afternoon while trying to intervene in a laptop robbery at Caffe Strada, authorities report.
The popular coffee shop, a favorite haunt of UC Berkeley students due to its location at 2300 College Ave., by the Cal campus, has been a repeat target of robberies and laptop thefts this year.
A witness told Berkeleyside on Monday afternoon that someone had “grabbed a laptop from one of the outdoor tables (with the owner sitting there!) and tried to run off with it. He was chased by multiple bystanders, dropped the laptop, and was grabbed and held by a person walking by. A second miscreant (the getaway driver?) got out of a dark-colored Chevy, ran over, and punched the person holding the thief multiple times to get him to let go. The thief & accomplice got into the car, which drove off south on College. Much of the encounter was recorded by multiple people.”
The Berkeley Police Department confirmed some of those details.
According to BPD, the robbery happened Monday at about 12:50 p.m. when two males stole a laptop from someone inside Caffe Strada. A witness to the robbery detained one of the suspects, but then was assaulted by the other individual.
The robbers fled the area and “detectives are actively following up on leads,” BPD said.
Berkeleyside has sought comment from Caffe Strada and will update this post if more information becomes available.
