Features

Murder in South Berkeley 

A man was shot to death and dumped from a car in the area of Alcatraz Avenue and Adeline Street Friday night, police said. 

The murder—Berkeley’s fourth this year and the sixth along the Berkeley-Oakland border—raised fears that a dispute between rival South Berkeley and North Oakland factions may be heating up. 

Police, however, said there is no evidence linking the murder to the year-long dispute. 

Witnesses to the crime said they heard gunfire and upon looking over to a gray car, saw one of the car doors open and the victim shoved out. 

Berkeley Fire Department medics attended to the victim and rushed him to Alta Bates Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

Berkeley Police are withholding the victim’s name until his family is located. He was described as a white male between 25-27. 

Cyclist Robbed 

Six teenagers tossed a Berkeley man off his bike Sunday night and stole his wallet, police said. 

The victim was riding south on the Ohlone Greenway between Cedar and Virginia Streets when six teenage boys stepped in his way. When the cyclist tried to avoid them, they yanked him off his bike and jumped on top of him, threatening to punch him if he didn’t surrender his wallet. One of the boys rifled through his pockets and grabbed the wallet and all of the boys raced down the bike path towards Virginia Street. 

Parole Violator Nabbed 

When a police officer making a traffic stop at the intersection of Curtis Street and University Avenue early Monday morning spotted a red pick-up truck double parked, a quick investigation discovered the car was stolen. The officer then arrested the driver, who was sitting inside the car. A search revealed two grams of methamphetamine in the driver’s pants pocket. Wayne Berger, 44, was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and violating parole. A later investigation found that Berger also had a parole violation.