Oakland police reportedly chased three robbery suspects in a vehicle into South Berkeley on Friday evening, alarming many readers who asked Berkeleyside what was happening.
What follows is a brief description of how police described the incident over the radio as it unfolded in Berkeley. The details have not been confirmed. Berkeleyside has asked the Oakland Police Department for confirmation.
Shortly before 7 p.m., as BPD was working on a shooting investigation in South Berkeley, officers from Oakland pursued a vehicle linked to a robbery into Berkeley. The chase was reported to be taking place near Milvia Street and Allston Way.
One person saw four BPD cruisers, with their sirens on, as they “roared down Fulton and turned on Blake, heading west.” Another reader described, on Twitter, a “12 car high speed chase … up Martin Luther King Jr.”
The reader continued: “The silver car with the … guys trying to get away turned north from there on MLK. Nearly hit me. Police followed. Literally a dozen by the end of it.”
Wrote another, who saw the chase near Berkeley High: “I heard sirens from a few blocks away, started to pull over, and suddenly a white car whizzing towards us almost hit the back of my car. My daughter screamed as I inched forward just in time. Police cars followed. Scary.”
The vehicle crashed on Shattuck Avenue near Blake or Parker streets, and its occupants fled on foot. Around 7:15 p.m., OPD reportedly deployed a Taser to take one person into custody in the 1900 block of Ward Street.
Berkeley police also responded to the area to help. Within a short period, two other people had been taken into custody. One of the suspects was detained at gunpoint at Carleton and Milvia.
A reader told Berkeleyside on Facebook that she had seen “Multiple accidents off Shattuck due to [a] police chase (at least 20 patrol cars),” and that there were “streets blocked off.” She saw OPD and BPD officers involved in the pursuit, adding, “They went by so fast!”
At least one parked Toyota was damaged during the chase, according to police on the radio. It sustained moderate damage and had to be towed, police said.
As of about 8:40 p.m., BPD reported over the radio that all three suspects had been taken into custody, and that UCPD had video related to the case. The BPD officer said it would be the “final update” about the chase.
Berkeleyside will update this story if OPD becomes available.
