Berkeley police arrested three people Tuesday evening after an armed robbery at the Dollar Tree on San Pablo Avenue, authorities report.
Police got multiple 911 calls shortly before 5 p.m. about the robbery, at gunpoint, at 1284 San Pablo Ave. (at Gilman Street) in West Berkeley. The robbers — two males and a female — had fled, but employees described them and their car to authorities, said BPD Lt. Peter Hong.
One Berkeley officer spotted that car and tried to stop it, Hong said, but the occupants jumped out and fled into yards in the 1500 block of Allston Way, near Spaulding Avenue.
Police sent out a Nixle alert during the investigation asking people to avoid the area due to the ongoing search on Allston Way between Spaulding and California streets. Multiple readers asked Berkeleyside what was going on.
Just after 5:20 p.m., BPD located and arrested all three individuals, Hong said. Their names were not available as of publication time.
Robbery detectives also responded to the scene to take over the investigation, he said.
There have been at least 137 robberies in Berkeley in the past six months, according to CrimeMapping, an online repository for local police data.
In recent years, Berkeley has consistently averaged about one robbery a day. About 20% of those robberies involve a gun, according to one BPD analysis.
Berkeleyside will update this post if additional information becomes available.
