Page One

POLICE LOGS

Ben Lumpkin and Judith Scherr
Wednesday April 04, 2001

Two unarmed youths allegedly stole $2 and a bag of marijuana from a man standing at a bus stop near the intersection of Haste Street and College Avenue Friday, according to police. 

Police said the two approached the man and asked him for money. When the victim said he had none, one of the youths began forcibly searching his pockets, said Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes. They found $2 and a bag of marijuana that the victim was carry for medical purposes, Lopes said. 

The victim notified UC Berkeley police of the crime immediately. UC police nabbed one of the suspects a few minutes later. The victim identified the suspect as one of the alleged robbers. 

The suspect, a 17-year-old male, was charged with one count of strong-arm robbery. 

••• 

A domestic dispute turned into a brawl early Sunday morning as witnesses tried to stop a man from beating his girlfriend, police said. 

Just after midnight Saturday, a group of people stepped outside a restaurant on the 2000 block of Addison Street to smoke, Lopes said. They saw a couple on the opposite side of the street engaged in a heated argument, Lopes said. 

When the man allegedly began beating the woman the witnesses yelled at him, telling him to stop, Lopes said. But then the woman who was allegedly under attack ran across the street and attacked a female witness, apparently in defense of her male companion, Lopes said. 

As other witnesses tried to separate the two women, the man who had been arguing with his girlfriend took a crowbar out of his car and ran across the street, Lopes said. He allegedly struck two of the witnesses in the back with the crowbar, Lopes said. 

Police arriving on the scene separated the various victims and suspects. The man with a crowbar was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Lopes said. His girlfriend, the alleged victim of the domestic dispute, was charged with hiding evidence when she attempted to conceal the crowbar from police. 

••• 

A Berkeley High student leaving the campus about lunchtime Monday was robbed by three high school-aged youths, one of them armed with a pistol, police said. 

Lt. Lopes said the suspects do not appear to be Berkeley High students. 

The three youths approached the student near the intersection of Bancroft Way and Milvia Street and asked him if he had change for a $10 bill, police said. When the student said he didn’t, one of the suspects reached out to search his pockets. Lopes said the student tried to resist the search at first, but gave in when one of the suspects pulled back his coat to reveal the butt of a handgun in his belt.  

The suspects got away with about $40 and the victim’s pager, Lopes said. Berkeley Police are investigating the robbery. 

••• 

A woman was hit by a car at about 8 a.m. Tuesday morning while crossing Ashby Avenue at Pine Street. 

Officer Gary Romano described the accident as “minor,” but noted the woman was transported to Alta Bates Hospital by ambulance. “The driver was caught with a glare of the sun in his eyes,” Romano said. He said the woman who was hit was a neighbor of the driver.