Etna and Parker streets. Image: Google Maps

Four women with a gun robbed a group of female Irish exchange students in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood early Saturday morning, authorities report.

The students were walking on Etna Street around 4 a.m. Saturday and had just turned onto Parker Street when a vehicle pulled up alongside them, said Officer Byron White, BPD spokesman.

Four women who appeared to be in their early 20s got out of the vehicle and surrounded the students, demanding their belongings. One of the women had a gun, White said.

The group took property from one of the students, then drove away.

Police were unable to locate the vehicle, and the investigation is ongoing.

Southside gun arrest

In an unrelated incident early Sunday, a BPD officer on patrol in the Southside neighborhood, at about 2:15 a.m., stopped a vehicle at Bancroft Way and Fulton Street on suspicion of vehicle code violations.

The officer searched the vehicle and found a loaded gun, said Lt. Dave Lindenau of BPD.

The driver was prohibited from owning a firearm or ammunition and was arrested on suspicion of various weapons violations.

The driver was identified as 37-year-old Jabari Williams, a business owner, according to jail records online. Williams remains in custody on $160,000 bail and is set for arraignment Tuesday.

Emilie Raguso (former senior editor, news) joined Berkeleyside in 2012 and covered politics, public safety and development until her departure in 2022. In 2017, Emilie was named Journalist of the Year...