Features

Berkeley police seek serial groper 

Berkeley police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a sexual predator who has assaulted at least two women on Bancroft Way near the UC campus, according to BPD sex crimes detective Keith DeBlasi. 

The first attack occurred at about 8 p.m. on April 2 near the intersection of Bancroft and Fulton Street. The second occurred exactly one week later, at 4 a.m., near Bancroft and Piedmont Avenue. 

Police have identified a suspect who matches witness descriptions of an African American man in his late thirties with graying hair and beard, standing 6’2” and weighing approximately 230 pounds. 

DeBlasi said the attacks appear to be escalating in violence, and witnesses report that one of the victims may have sustained minor injuries. 

Because the victims haven’t come forward, police have been unable to bring charges, and DeBlasi urged the victims and any other witnesses to contact the police department “to prevent possibly more serious assaults by this person.” DeBlasi suggested persons with information on the crimes to call the Sex Crimes Detail at 981-5735 or write to police@ci.berkeley.ca.us in reference to case #04-19966.