Features

Police Blotter

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Friday July 30, 2004

Police Warn Shattuck Purse Toters  

Berkeley Police are warning women that pickpockets have been targeting the contents of purses and handbags in the Shattuck Avenue retail area. Over the past six months, light-fingered types have plucked wallets and other content from 20 or so purses and handbags draped over the backs of chairs by their owners. 

The pilferers are skilled enough that nobody’s ever seen them in the act, and thus police have no description of the perp or perps involved. 

Police caution that purses should always remain in the owner’s line of sight and never left unattended. As a further precaution, all zippers and latches should be closed. 

 

Bat-Toting Robber Takes Cash 

A man with a bat and a hostile attitude approached a pedestrian near the corner of Sacramento and Carleton streets at 5 p.m. Sunday and demanded cash. He got it. 

 

Gunman Nails Salon 

A young man with a gun walked into Ashby Nails near the corner of Ashby Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way shortly after 1 p.m. Monday and ordered the staff to turn open the till. Described as a six-foot-tall African American in his 20’s wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, he fled the scene with the cash and departed in a gray two-door sedan. 

 

Too Young to Buy Booze, He Swipes It 

A 20-year-old with an underage taste for booze and a hankerin’ for cheese swiped same from the Telegraph Avenue Andronico’s at 4:34 p.m. Monday. 

Caught in the act, he was taken by police to a place where the legendary fare is water and bread, hold the cheese. 

 

Street Spat Takes Nasty Turn  

A dispute between two pairs of young men that started on the street took a nasty turn at 3 a.m. Monday when one pair retreated inside the residence, only to be followed by the other pair, who snuck into the dwelling, according to Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

One of the residents sustained minor injuries when an intruder got physical. 

The victims said their invaders were Asian American males between 18 and 21 years old. One was described as 5’9” tall and weighing between 140 and 150 pounds. He was wearing a Yankees hat and shirt along with tan pants. 

The pair departed in a aqua-colored four-door Isuzu Trooper. 

Another with information is requested to call Berkeley PD at 981-5900 or UC Berkeley Police at 642-0472.›