A couple woke to find a stranger in their home who attacked them. DNA on a baseball cap helped solve a vehicle theft. And a new fundraiser in May’s fatal crash.
Identity theft
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Berkeley police: Man dragged in Elmwood robbery, Tesla camera helps solve burglary series, more
Robbers holding onto a man’s backpack dragged him at least 70 feet with their getaway car. A GPS ankle monitor and Tesla camera helped solve an auto burglary series. A prolific home burglar caught a new case. And more.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Berkeley Police: Employee of Verizon dealer who preyed on elderly customers charged in ID theft case
A man who worked for an authorized Verizon dealer in North Berkeley has been charged with using the credit card numbers of elderly customers to rack up thousands of dollars in fraudulent fees, according to court papers.
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Police seek woman after ID theft, shopping sprees
Berkeley police investigators are trying to find the woman pictured above after linking her to an ID theft case and fraudulently purchased merchandise worth thousands of dollars, authorities report. Police said Thursday in a prepared statement that a Berkeley woman identified the person pictured above, on Nov. 30, as someone who had “used her stolen identity […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Pit bull fatally shot after biting Berkeley Police officer
Berkeley police fatally shot a pit bull in West Oakland on Tuesday night after the dog attacked an officer during a search warrant operation, officials have reported. According to scanner recordings reviewed by Berkeleyside, an officer also received an accidental graze wound from a bullet shot at the dog during the confrontation. Officer Stephanie Polizziani, […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Berkeley police discover hundreds of fake bank cards during arrest
An Oakland woman has been charged with felony identity theft after a Berkeley police search turned up hundreds of fake bank cards, and equipment for making hundreds more, at her home in late July. According to court papers, police searched the vehicle and home of 32-year-old Lecresha Shenete Dudley on July 29 after linking her […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Berkeley pair faces felony identity theft charges
A Berkeley couple facing seven felony counts related to identity theft allegations is set to appear in court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing. Berkeley police arrested Albert Thomas and Juanita Roles at their southwest Berkeley apartment in the 1200 block of Haskell Street earlier this month after a search warrant turned up identity theft materials, illegal drugs, […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Man tied to Berkeley drug sales charged with 5 felonies
An Oakland man with 12 prior felony convictions has been charged with five more, related to drug sales and gun possession, after his arrest by the Berkeley Police Department in late March. Arage Hayes, 51, has been charged with possession for sale of cocaine base and powder cocaine; possession of a controlled substance with a firearm […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Police: Man arrested after impersonation at Berkeley bank
A Hercules man has been charged with identity theft and forgery after walking into a Berkeley bank and pretending to be someone else earlier this month, authorities said. Randeep Randhawa, 30, reportedly entered the Chase Bank at 2390 Shattuck Ave. on Jan. 6 with a doctored driver’s license and tried to change another man’s account information, […]
Posted inCrime, Crime & Safety
Authorities link woman to $19,000 Berkeley make-up heist
$19,000 worth of products was stolen from the MAC store on Fourth Street. Photo: Fourth Street Shopping A San Pablo woman is in custody after police linked her vehicle to the theft of more than $19,000 in make-up products from the MAC Cosmetics store on Berkeley’s Fourth Street. Kristen Hale, 32, is set to appear […]
Posted inCity
News Group chief responds to Berkeley privacy breach
The Bay Area News Group maintains a database of public employee compensation records. Click the image to search the database. Following this week’s disclosure by Berkeley city staff that roughly 11,000 municipal employee social security numbers had been erroneously divulged to a local media outlet in March, the media outlet’s managing editor said Tuesday that […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley shared SSNs from 11,000 current, past staff
City Manager Christine Daniel said information from 11,000 current and retired employees had been mistakenly released. Photo: Emilie Raguso It emerged Tuesday afternoon that more people than previously thought had their social security numbers inadvertently released to a local news organization due to an error by a city of Berkeley employee. City Manager Christine Daniel […]