Features

Hooker Sting 

Responding to numerous complaints from residents along the San Pablo Avenue corridor, Berkeley Police mounted a sting operation Wednesday that ended in the arrests of 10 women on prostitution-related charges. 

“Their ages ranged from 13 to 50,” said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Each of the suspects solicited undercover officers for sex acts to be performed for cash. 

Special Enforcement Unit officers found one 48-year-old suspect in possession of eight Valium tablets, eight methadone tabs, and 38 oxycontins, otherwise known as “Hillbilly Heroin.” 

Other suspects faced additional charges for probation violations stemming from earlier arrests. 

Cranked-up Road Rager 

Berkeley Police arrested a 37-year-old driver Feb. 17 for a host of charges, ranging from brandishing a deadly weapon (a knife), driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

The incident began as a case of road rage, during which the suspect flashed a knife at another driver near the corner of Vicente and Tunnel roads. 

The offended party followed the flasher to the 2900 block of Ashby Avenue, where he was arrested by Berkeley’s finest. 

Peeper 

A 19-year-old woman called police after she spotted a man peer through her bedroom window just before 2 a.m. last Friday. 

By the time officers arrived in the 2500 block of Ellsworth Street, all that was left of his presence was a description, to wit, a gray-haired bearded gaper wearing an orange jacket and khaki hat. 

Another Peeper 

Police were summoned 14 hours later to the 2200 block of Carleton Street, where another 19-year-old woman had spotted a man masturbating. The man had blondish hair and a dark jacket and was toting a bag. 

Like the first, he, too, had vanished when the black-and-whites arrived. 

Lovers Looted 

Police were called to Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Centennial Way shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday after a couple stopped in a popular parking spot were robbed by three young gunmen who made off with a purse, a wallet and a cell phone. 

Both victims were 21 years old, said Officer Okies. 

Pocketed Threat 

Two men making like they were packing pistols in the pockets robbed a 29-year-old pedestrian of his wallet near the corner of Gilman Street and San Pablo Avenue just before 1 p.m. Saturday. 

Bottle Basher Bust 

Berkeley Police arrested a Berkeley teenager on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after he bashed a 31-year-old man over the head with a bottle in the Center Street garage. 

Gunman Grabs Jewelry 

A 23-year-old Berkeley resident was relieved of his personal jewelry by a a hooded gunman who accosted him at the corner of Oxford Street and University Avenue at 9:44 p.m. Sunday. No arrest has been made, said Officer Okies. 

Automotive Arson? 

Because there’s no sign of a natural cause, police are trying to determine if a car that went up in flames at the Ingle Company at 2000 Carleton Street was destroyed as the result of malicious human activity. 

Another Wallet Heist 

Two teenage gunman relieved a 22-year-old pedestrian of his wallet near the corner of Alcatraz Avenue and Ellis Street around 10:45 Monday night and departed in a black import. 

Third Peeper 

Officers are looking for a man who was spotted masturbating across the street from the Claremont Day Nursery in the 2800 block of Woolsey Street Tuesday. 

He was spotted by a pedestrian, who described the fellow as male in his late 30s with dark short hair and a medium to heavy build. He was sitting in a black Ford when spotted. Police have no suspects, in part because the pedestrian didn’t call until a day later, said Officer Okies. ›