Features

Police Blotter

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday June 22, 2004

Strongarm Bandits Create Wednesday Woes 

A strongarm heister grabbed the purse of a hapless pedestrian walking near the corner of Deakin and Woolsey streets shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday and ran off with both the bag and its contents. 

Two strongarm types turned a cyclist into a pedestrian after they braced him at 4 p.m. near the corner of Regent Street and Dwight Way and relieved him of his wheels. 

 

Arson Try Fails When Molotov Proves a Dud 

Shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday, a would-be arsonist tossed a cocktail through the window of Steps House at 1545 Dwight Way, an institution dedicated to sobriety. 

The cocktail wasn’t the alcoholic sort but the incendiary variety, the gas-in-a-bottle devices named after former Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and used so successfully by Russian partisans against German tanks during World War II. 

The Berkeley bomb failed to detonate, however, and police now seeking the flame-thrower, who faces serious felony charges. 

Teenager Bandits Threaten Knife Attack  

Two teenagers approached a pedestrian near the intersection of Adeline and Stuart streets about 9:30 Thursday evening and threatened to stab the man unless he turned over his cash. 

He did, and the duo departed. 

 

Another Arson Try Under Investigation 

Berkeley Police are looking into another arson attempt, this one occurring about 1:30 a.m. Friday someone tried to ignite a deck near the corner of Acton Street and Channing Way. The fire was extinguished before any serious damage was done. 

 

Police Seek Man in Attempted Rape  

UC Berkeley Police summoned city police to the 2700 block of Channing Way at 3:49 a.m. Wednesday after a student called to report that she’d been attacked by a would-be sexual assailant, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Officers from both departments scoured the area in search of a blond, blue-eyed man the victim said was 19 years old, about 5’6” tall and weighing an estimated 150 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue sweatshirt. 

The sexual assault was unsuccessful and woman sustained minor injuries in the attack, Okies said. 

UC police handed the case over to Berkeley officers for the follow-up investigation. 

Would-be Victim Foils Rat Pack Robbers 

A gang of four or five young adults tried to rob a pedestrian at Eighth Street and Channing Way Friday afternoon. The would-be victim managed to escape with his wallet intact. 

 

Paper-hanging Pair Busted 

A Berkeley Bowl security officer detained a young couple outside the store shortly before 7 p.m. Friday after they purchased a load of groceries with what proved to be a forged check. 

The officer, who said he had recognized them from an earlier attempt, held the duo until Berkeley Police arrived. Officer Okies said further investigation revealed they had passed other bad paper at the grocery store, and another bad check earlier that day at Walgreens. 

The couple was charged with conspiracy and multiple forgery charges. 

 

Police Seek Suspects in Shotgun Heists 

Berkeley Police arrested a teenager about 1 a.m. Saturday after five young men, one brandishing a shotgun, confronted a woman on College Avenue near its intersection with Channing Way and relieved her of her bag. 

Then, 17 hours later, a trio of young men, one packing a shotgun, confronted a man at Dwight Way near Prospect Street and forced him to hand over his wallet. 

Officer Okies said detectives are investigating to see if the two crimes are related. 

 

Man Brandishes Note, Robs Bank 

A young man walked into the Washington Savings branch at Solano and Fresno avenues and presented a note demanding cash. 

The teller complied and the bandit stuffed the loot into a black plastic bag and fled. 

Police are seeking an African American male of medium build in his twenties with a short Afro who is described at standing between 5’6” and 5’8”. He was wearing glasses and a bandage over he nose, a blue denim jacket, a yellow shirt and baggy blue jeans.›