Features

Berkeley, Vallejo Men Slain in Emeryville  

After three years without a homicide, Emeryville racked up two slayings in five days, including the murder of a Berkeley man who was moving appliances into a three-unit rental building owned by a relative. 

Donald Malcolm Sims, 40, was shot multiple times Wednesday night outside the triplex on 44th Street near the corner of Adeline Street. Sheri Taylor, the owner of the building, was also hit by a bullet in her leg, said Sgt. LaJuan Collier. 

Sims was shot a few minutes before 7 p.m. and pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m. at Oakland’s Highland Hospital. 

The other murder occurred Nov. 20 outside the Denny’s Restaurant on Powell Street adjacent to the Interstate 80 restaurant. 

Robert Bridges Stanford, a 22-year-old Vallejo resident, was shot once in the head. 

Emeryville detectives arrested a suspect in the Stanford slaying five days later, 18-year-old Vallejo resident Vasega Till.  

Sgt. Collier said there was no evidence that the two shootings were related. 

Hands Off, Sonny 

A 73-year-old Berkeley woman called police a few minutes after midnight on Nov. 22 after a man about four decades her junior grabbed her posterior as she was walking along the 1800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

There are no suspects in the event, which police are calling a sexual battery. 

About That Bullet Hole. . . 

A resident of the 900 block of Jones Street made a startling discovery last Wednesday—a bullet hole, evidence that someone had fired a round into the dwelling sometime in the previous week. With no witnesses, police have no suspect, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Call Interrupted  

A 77-year-old Berkeley woman was talking on her cell phone as she walked along the 2100 block of Jefferson Avenue around 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday when a young man grabbed the instrument out of her hands and ran away. 

Police have no suspects in the case. 

Knife Flasher Busted  

A late night argument between two acquaintances in the 1700 block of Derby Street took a sharper edge Friday when a 60-year-old disputant pulled a knife and flashed the weapon at the other. 

Police took the knife-wielder to the city lockup, pending arraignment on a single charge of brandishing a deadly weapon. 

Strong-Arm Purse Snatch  

A tall, slim bandit forced the purse away from a 37-year-old woman in the 2800 block of Russell Street just after 2 p.m. Saturday. The woman was uninjured and the robber remains at large. 

Rat Pack Bike Theft 

Five young men in their late teens to early 20s confronted a 19-year-old bike rider near the corner of Adeline and 62nd streets about 6:30 p.m. Sunday and strong-armed his ride, said Officer Okies. 

No suspects have been arrested in the crime. 

Pistol-Packin’ Jacker 

A young man believed to be between 16 and 20 years of age pulled a pistol on a motorist near the corner of 7th and Delaware streets about 11:15 Sunday night and demanded the car. 

The driver of the vehicle, a Volkswagen, wisely gave it up and the bandit fled behind the wheel.