Police in Berkeley arrested an armed San Pablo man Sunday night after he broke into one Cal fraternity house and tried to break into another one, authorities report.
Officers responded Sunday at 10:30 p.m. to a fraternity in the 2300 block of Piedmont Avenue, near Channing Way, after getting a call about a man who was there with a gun, said Officer Byron White in response to a Berkeleyside inquiry.
According to the callers, the man had also tried to break into a fraternity nearby and was “pointing his gun at passing vehicles,” White said. According to callers, the man had gone into one frat, then tried to open a sliding door and bedroom window at the other one. He did not take anything at either location, White said.
Police confronted the man at Piedmont Avenue and Channing Way, White said: “Officers gave commands for the suspect to stop and keep his hands up, but the suspect ignored the officer’s commands. Fortunately, officers were able to quickly close the distance to the suspect — where they managed to tackle him before anyone could get hurt.”
Police identified the man as 22-year-old Julio Cesar Perez of San Pablo. He was arrested on suspicion of home-invasion robbery, carrying a loaded handgun and carrying a concealed handgun.
White said police found additional ammunition in Perez’s vehicle, which was parked nearby. The gun, which was concealed in his waistband when officers arrested him, was registered to Perez, White said.
Perez remains in custody at Berkeley Jail and is being held on $380,000 bail, according to jail records online. He is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
