Features

Alleged Sexual Batterer Arrested With Help of UC Police 

Berkeley Police, in cooperation with the UC Berkeley Police, arrested a 36-year-old man Thursday and charged him with sexual battery on a minor and false imprisonment. Melvin Scott, whose hometown was not released at press time, is suspected of grabbing and holding a 15-year-old student last April 15 during school hours near the Berkeley High School campus, according to a police bulletin.  

A passerby pulled the assailant off the victim. 

The bulletin said that Scott escaped, but was later identified in a photo lineup by the unidentified victim, who said she did not know him. 

Berkeley police say that are investigating whether Scott might be responsible for any other local sexual battery cases still under investigation. 

Seven-Hour Robbery Spree Hits City 

Berkeley Police are seeking suspects in five armed robberies that occurred in the seven hours between 5:13 p.m. Tuesday and 12:15 a.m. Wednesday. 

A 34-year-old Oakland woman was accosted near the intersection of University and San Pablo Avenues shortly after 5 p.m. by a pair of armed robbers who fled after stealing her purse, said BPD spokesperson Kevin Schofield. 

Three hours later, at 8:37 p.m., a lone adult robber brandished a pistol at a Berkeley man on Peralta Avenue near Gilman Street and escaped with the victim’s wallet. 

Twenty minutes after that, a juvenile armed with a handgun robbed a pedestrian at Gilman and Sixth Street. 

Six minutes before midnight, a gunman tried to rob a pedestrian at Fourth Street and Allston Way but fled before completing his crime. 

The final crime of the day went down 15 minutes after midnight when a solo bandit stuck up a pedestrian in the 1400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, fleeing on foot with the victim’s cash. 

Still, Berkeley’s Crime Is Down 

Berkeley’s violent crime rate dipped last year to its lowest rate since 1968, according to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Kevin Schofield. 

Only 582 violent crimes—murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault—were reported in 2003, down from 1992, the most violent year in the city’s history, when 1665 crimes of violence reached police attention. 

Captain Stephanie Fleming of BPD’s Field Services Division attributed some of the decline to the department’s Community Involved Policing Program, which stresses citizen involvement in crime-stopping.  

“Having all of our officers dedicated to this philosophy has proven productive,” Fleming said. “The greater community involvement in addressing many problems is invaluable.” 

Fleming singled out citizen participation in BPD-sponsored Neighborhood Watch programs as a significant factor in the declining crime statistics. 

For more information on Neighborhood Watch and other prevention programs, call BPD’s Community Services Bureau at 981-5806 or log on to the department’s website at www.BerkeleyPD.org. ›