Features

Pickpocket arrested on Shattuck Avenue 

Employees of a coffee shop on the 2200 block of Shattuck Avenue chased down a man accused of taking a customer’s wallet from his pocket while inside the cafe, then called Berkeley Police officials and had the man arrested. 

Berkeley resident Ronald Johnson, 48, was arrested Wednesday afternoon about two blocks away from the coffee shop after one employee followed him out of the store while another called police. Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Kevin Schofield said that Johnson was arrested for felony pickpocketing as well as a parole violation and booked into jail that evening. 

Knife-wielding muggers make off with man’s wallet 

Three men, two brandishing knives, accosted a man on San Pablo Avenue near Gilman Street around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, taking off with the victim’s wallet. 

Schofield said that the suspects escaped with miscellaneous personal papers of the victim’s, as well as an unknown amount of money. The suspects allegedly threatened the man with knives, at which point the victim handed one man his wallet. 

The suspects are described as a 5’10” black male in his 20s wearing a white t-shirt, a 40-something Hispanic male standing about 5’10” and weighing 140 pounds with a black beard and mustache, and a 5’10” black male with black braided hair. 

Napa resident arrested for peeping in Berkeley 

Police arrested an alleged peeper on the 2200 block of Dwight Way just before midnight Tuesday. 

The alleged peeper was seen looking through the bedroom window of a home Monday night, but police were unable to catch him. On Tuesday, the resident of the house called police officials once again, and officers succeeded in capturing Larry Russell, a 39-year-old Napa resident. Russell was charged with two counts of peeping and was booked into jail. 

Burglar absconds with power tools 

A man entered an unlocked garage on the 1500 block of Addison Street and walked away with a set of power tools. Police arrived on the scene but were unable to catch the burglar. 

Schofield said that an officer driving by the home was flagged down at 4:04 p.m. on Monday by a man standing outside his home. The suspect was described as a thin, six-foot tall black male, 30-35 years old wearing a black puff jacket.