Update, June 28: The Alameda County coroner’s office has identified the deceased man as 61-year-old Clyde Jones. He had no permanent address and his cause of death remains pending, said the coroner’s office.
Update, June 24: The coroner’s office said the man’s name could not be released yet because next of kin has not been notified.
Original story, June 21: Authorities found a man dead in downtown Berkeley for the second time since Sunday, according to preliminary reports.
Berkeleyside has tried to reach the Berkeley Police Department about the case repeatedly since 10:45 a.m. but has not received a response.
According to radio traffic reviewed by Berkeleyside, first responders were called just before 9:30 a.m. to 2140 Durant Ave., at Fulton Street, for a man who appeared to be passed out or possibly deceased.
A reader told Berkeleyside the scene was located in front of the Institute of Buddhist Studies: “About a half dozen cop cars and the Crime Scene Unit van, large section of sidewalk taped off,” he wrote on Twitter.
When authorities arrived, they confirmed the man had died. They called for a partition to block the body from public view, according to radio traffic reviewed by Berkeleyside.
There are no indications thus far that authorities believe Friday’s death to be suspicious.
Sunday, first responders found another body, about a block from Friday’s fatality, in the wooded area west of UC Berkeley’s Edwards track at Fulton and Bancroft Way, according to the University of California Police Department. That man was identified as 63-year-old Thomas Francis Chockla. He had no permanent address. His cause of death remains under investigation, according to the coroner’s office.
