Features

Foiled Robbery 

An alert AC Transit bus driver prevented a burglar from stealing a $7,000 plasma television from a stereo store on the 900 block of University Avenue. 

According to police, the bus driver spotted the burglar inside the well-lit, closed store at 8:51 p.m. Saturday while he was driving his route. He called Berkeley Police, who surrounded the store only to find that the robber had fled from the premises—leaving the television behind. Police said the robber had entered the store by breaking through sheet rock and a window. They hope to use store surveillance film to identify the culprit. 

Police Chase 

A man driving with his lights off led police on a chase before he crashed into a parked car. According to police, an officer spotted the motorist at 3:55 a.m. Wednesday morning. When the officer signaled for the driver to pull over, he tried to flee and the officer pursued him to Harrison and Mable Streets, where the he fled the moving car and took off on foot. The officer parked his cruiser, then chased and apprehended the suspect, whose vehicle had crashed into a parked car. Police arrested Onyea Nwaonumah, 19, of Berkeley for resisting arrest, evading a police officer, driving without lights, driving without a license and violating probation. 

Purse Snatch 

A thief on a bicycle yanked a woman’s pocket book off her shoulder, and made off with several hundred dollars, police said. The woman was walking on Center Street between Milvia Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way at 2:33 p.m. Wednesday when the robber cycled beside her and grabbed her pocket book. She chased after him towards Milvia briefly, but then turned around and ran into the Police Station at MLK and Center. Police have not found the robber. 

Police Seek Witness 

Police are trying to find two men who robbed a woman at gunpoint and are urging a key witness to step forward with information. According to police, two men approached a woman at the intersection of Woolsey and Tremont Streets Saturday, Sept. 13. One pulled out a handgun and demanded her purse. The woman complied and the two men fled. 

Police say a woman carrying a guitar and riding her bike saw what happened and aided the victim, but didn’t stay around long enough to give police an account of what she saw. Police urge her to contact them with any information at 981-5742. Refer to case #03-52706.