Features

Weekend Bank Robbery 

Around noon on Saturday, a man walked into the Mechanics Bank at 2301 Shattuck Ave. and handed a note to the teller. 

The teller handed the man an undisclosed amount of money, which he stuffed into a bag before fleeing eastbound on Bancroft Way. He was last seen going south on Fulton Street on foot.  

The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his mid-twenties. He is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He wore a black beanie, black sunglasses and a checkered, flannel shirt and blue jeans. He also had a dark birthmark on one cheek. The suspect did not display a weapon during the robbery. 

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the Berkeley Police Department’s robbery detail at (510) 981-5742. 

Armed robber steals goods 

On Sunday around 10 a.m., the store manager of the University Avenue Andronicos began following a man who was acting suspiciously. The manager told police the man was putting handfuls of items into his hand basket until it was “overflowing.”  

The manager called for store security, but before they arrived the suspect asked the manager if he was a security guard. When the manager said he wasn’t the man proceeded to leave the store.  

The manager asked if he was going to pay for the goods and the man lifted his shirt to expose a handgun tucked into his belt. The man put his hand on the gun handle and the manager let him leave the store. According to the manager, the suspect got away with between $300 and $400. 

Hate Incident 

According to the director of the Pacific Center, a gay, lesbian and bisexual community center at 2712 Telegraph Ave., an unidentified person came into the center between 1:40 and 3:15 p.m., turned over a table and taped a handwritten note to the wall. The note read: “Gay youth are a bunch of stuck-up rotten bitches that should be strung out with Columbine.” 

Berkeley police are asking anyone with information to contact the hate crimes division at (510) 981-5900.