Police reported several notable arrests in Berkeley in November. The information, compiled from police and several recent Nixle alerts, appears below.
FELONY DRUG SALES ARRESTS Police made two car stops within about an hour Nov. 10 that resulted in felony drug sales arrests. At 9:20 p.m., police stopped a vehicle near Market and Adeline Streets in South Berkeley due to an equipment violation: “Inside the vehicle, officers discovered a quantity of methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cash.” According to BPD, the driver ran off while police were trying to handcuff him, but officers caught up with him after a brief foot chase. Police arrested both the driver, 26-year-old Oakland man Trey Bailey, and his passenger, 27-year-old Jonika Reed of Berkeley. Police said they discovered more heroin hidden in Reed’s clothing when they were booking her into jail.
Bailey and Reed were arrested on suspicion of multiple counts of felony possession of narcotics for sale and transporting narcotics for sale. They were charged but no longer are in custody, according to county jail records online.
At 10:30 p.m., police stopped a vehicle at Haskell and Mabel streets in South Berkeley for an equipment violation. Police searched the driver, 56-year-old Lecester King Jr. of Oakland, and found him with “a quantity of marijuana, powder cocaine, rock cocaine” and more than $1,000 in cash, according to BPD. Police arrested King in connection with felony possession of narcotics for sale and transporting narcotics for sale. He was charged but is no longer in custody, according to records online.
RIFLE FOUND DURING PROBATION SEARCH Also on Nov. 10, police discovered a rifle when they stopped a Berkeley man, and known probationer, shortly before 8 a.m. after seeing him with an open container, according to BPD. The stop took place in the 1200 block of University Avenue (near Curtis Street) in West Berkeley. Police searched the man, Michael Cole, 33, and found a rifle in his duffel bag. Cole has been charged with a slew of gun-related violations but is no longer in custody, according to records online. No further information could be released due to the ongoing investigation, police said.
“HOT PROWL” HOME BURGLARY, VEHICLE THEFT ARREST A woman sleeping in her West Berkeley home in the 1000 block of Pardee Street (near Ninth Street) on Nov. 14 woke shortly before 3 a.m. to the sound of someone inside: “When she got up to investigate, she saw a man walking down her staircase and she called the police,” BPD said. After the man left, the woman noticed he had stolen multiple items, including her car key. Officers who came to investigate the hot prowl home burglary — where someone is home at the time of the crime — saw that the woman’s car was gone. They began to search for the vehicle and found it a short time later less than a mile away, near Channing Way and Ninth Street. Police said probationer Anthony Graham was getting out of the vehicle when they located it. They arrested the 42-year-old homeless man on suspicion of burglary, vehicle theft and violation of probation. Graham remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with a bail of $75,000, according to jail records online. He has been charged with first-degree burglary, including an allegation of burglarizing an inhabited dwelling, and vehicle theft. He is set to appear in court Dec. 5.
DUI COLLISION Police arrested a 40-year-old unlicensed Berkeley woman after she crashed into two parked vehicles in the 2100 block of Bonar Street (near Addison Street) on Nov. 12 at 2 a.m. Police said the driver, Yolanda Florez, was uninsured and also had a warrant for her arrest: “After officers evaluated her sobriety with a series of … tests, they determined that she was also under the influence. Inside the vehicle, officers also discovered a quantity of methamphetamine.” No further information was immediately available about the case.
POLICE NAB PAIR OF AUTO BURGLARS Two men spotted speeding off from the scene of an auto burglary in the Southside neighborhood Nov. 6 were quickly arrested by police and found with stolen property from two cases, authorities report. Police said a man had parked at 11:15 p.m. in a lot in the 2500 block of Durant Avenue (near Telegraph Avenue) to go to Top Dog. When he got back to his car, it had been burglarized. Police said he saw a vehicle “peeling out” of the parking lot and thought it was suspicious. BPD pulled over the vehicle on Claremont Avenue near the city border: “When officers searched the vehicle, they located the victim’s stolen property as well as property from another auto burglary on the 1800 block of Delaware Street,” police said.
BPD identified the men as 37-year-old Delfino Stevens of Berkeley and 42-year-old Richmond man Henry Hudson. They were arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property and auto burglary. Stevens was also arrested in connection with a probation violation. Their photographs were not released because the case is ongoing, police said.
ROBBERY ARREST BPD arrested two Benicia teenagers on Halloween in connection with a robbery at a popular Berkeley café in August. On Aug. 24 at about 6 p.m., a teenager went into Victory Point Café — at 1797-A Shattuck Ave. — and took a laptop from a man seated at the counter, police said. The robber then got into the back seat of a getaway vehicle, which took off. Police said they were ultimately available to track down the robbers based on the description of the teens and their vehicle. Police identified the robbers as 18-year-old Antonio Marcal and a 16-year-old whose name was not released because of privacy laws that protect minors. Marcal was charged with robbery and entered a not guilty plea. He is no longer in custody, according to court records online. His photograph was not immediately available, but Berkeleyside has requested it from BPD.