A man used a note to make off with an undisclosed amount of cash while robbing a downtown Berkeley credit union last week, authorities report.
The robbery happened Thursday at about 1:45 p.m. at University & State Employees Credit Union, 2350 Shattuck Ave., near Durant Avenue, said Officer Byron White, Berkeley police spokesman.
White said the man went into the credit union “and passed a note to the teller demanding money.” Once he got what he came for, the man left with the cash.
Berkeley police generally do not release what was taken during robberies so as not to encourage copycat behavior or compromise their investigations.
White said the robber had dark skin and appeared to be in his 40s. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans.
The last bank robbery Berkeley police reported to the public took place in March at the Chase bank branch at 2390 Shattuck, near Channing Way. That’s about one block south of the credit union robbery last week.
Bank robberies are rare in Berkeley, and have been on the decline. There were four in the city in 2013, none the following year, three in 2015, and one each the next two years, according to BPD data.
In comparison, there were 252 pedestrian robberies in 2017, and 74 commercial robberies — both of which are relatively consistent with the reports made during each of the two years prior.
One public safety number that has been on the increase in Berkeley in 2018, however, is that of laptop robberies from cafes. There have been more than 30 already in Berkeley this year, police have said, compared to 19 in all of 2017.
Berkeleyside will update this story if additional information becomes available.
