A 20-year-old UC Berkeley student was robbed of his laptop Wednesday night by two people with a knife who accosted him on campus, according to a UC Berkeley police alert sent out Thursday morning.
The student was walking westbound on the Observatory Hill path from North Gate, approaching Haviland Hall, at 10:05 p.m. when he was approached from behind by two people, one of whom had a knife, said the University of California Police Department.
The pair took the student’s backpack, which held his laptop, police said.
UCPD said the culprits are believed to be “related to” an armed robbery attempt earlier in the night on Ellsworth Street, between Durant Avenue and Channing Way, in the Southside neighborhood near the UC Berkeley campus. Berkeleyside has asked UCPD for more details on that incident.
UCPD asks anyone with information about this crime to call the agency at 510-642-0472.
Update, 3 p.m. In response to a Berkeleyside inquiry, the Berkeley Police Department shared details of a robbery Wednesday night by two people with a knife that happened about 50 minutes before the one on campus, described above.
According to BPD spokesman Officer Byron White, at 9:10 p.m., a 27-year-old Berkeley man was walking on the 2300 block of Ellsworth Street when two people approached him from behind.
One of them pulled out a knife and demanded the man’s cash. Startled, the man fell to the ground. He told the robbers he had no cash and they ran away.
Witnesses said the strangers were described as Hispanic males, 17-21 years old. The one with the knife had a skinny build and wore a black hooded top. The other wore a light gray hooded top and had a heavy build.
White could not confirm the two robberies were related as, he said, the investigation is ongoing.