Features

Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday July 26, 2005

Reason for running 

What started out as a routine San Pablo Avenue early morning traffic stop on July 18 took a different twist when a 26-year-old man stepped on the gas instead of the brake. 

When he finally came to a halt near the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Addison Street just after 3 a.m., the driver opened the door and made a sprint for freedom. 

When officers finally slapped the cuffs on him, they discovered the reason for his flight. The gentleman in question, it seems, had been packing a concealed weapon while driving. 

He now faces a variety of criminal charges, ranging from the weapons rap to resisting arrest, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

 

Simulated gun 

When a couple of young bandits walked up to a 57-year-old pedestrian strolling along Parker Street near Shattuck Avenue six hours later and one claimed to have a concealed weapon, the pedestrian wisely handed over his wallet and avoided a potentially more dire outcome. 

 

Cash heist 

A man wearing a gray jersey with the number 26 on the back walked up to a 64-year-old man near the corner of Ninth Street and Hearst Avenue and demanded cash. 

The victim complied. 

 

Scooped at B & J’s 

A gunman walked into the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlor at 2130 Oxford St. about 9:15 p.m. on the 18th and demanded cash. 

His request fulfilled, the bandit departed. 

 

Sexual battery 

An anonymous caller informed police in the pre-dawn hours last Tuesday to report that he’d just seen an unpleasant encounter between a man and a woman near the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Emerson Street. Subsequent investigation revealed that the man had committed sexual battery on a 22-year-old woman. 

No arrest has been made, said Officer Okies. 

 

Unpleasant surprise 

A man who lives near the corner of Page and Fourth Streets in West Berkeley discovered something unpleasant when he walked into his home about 10:45 last Tuesday evening: a pair of fellows in the midst of a burglary. 

Officer Okies said one of the bandits punched him in the face, but the fellow managed to turn the tables, shoving and pushing them out of his home before they managed to loot the place. 

A call to the police and a quick search of the area turned up the two suspects, one 22 and the other a juvenile. 

The punch turned a mere burglary into a robbery, and the pair was booked on one count each of resisting arrest. 

 

Gunman robs three 

A lone gunman robbed three pedestrians near the corner of Gilman and Cornell Streets at 12:12 a.m. Wednesday, making off with their cash. 

 

Dumbest bandit ever? 

The fellow who robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at Tenth Street and University Avenue Thursday just before 11 a.m. forgot Rule Number One of his trade: Don’t pull off a heist unless you’ve got a full tank. 

The fleeing felon, who pulled off the robbery with a demand note, was spotted after he’d stopped to gas up at a station at Seventh Street and University Avenue. 

He made one more block before the black-and-whites pulled him over, said Officer Okies. 

 

Suspicious fire 

Berkeley firefighters are investigating the cause of a car fire that managed to ignite trees near the corner of Prince and Woolsey streets about 12:25 a.m. Friday. 

The blaze was quickly extinguished, said Officer Okies. 

 

Another robbery 

Two gunmen robbed a 20-year-old woman of her cash, cell phone and ID as she walked along the 1700 block of San Pablo Avenue about 4:30 Saturday morning. 

 

Brandisher 

Police arrested a 58-year-old man after he threatened a 21-year-old woman with a knife in the 1100 block of Harrison Street at 11:10 a.m. Saturday. 

A quick search by police turned up the suspect, who was booked on one count each of suspicion of brandishing a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. 

 

Max to the rescue 

A young Berkeley man who was the intended victim of a rat pack bicycle robbery shortly before 10:30 p.m. Saturday found an unusual rescuer coming to his aid—City Councilmember Max Anderson. 

A group of six or seven would-be robbers confronted the 25-year-old cyclist and grabbed his mountain bike. Anderson and another Good Samaritan stepped in before police arrived. 

The cyclist got his wheels back, and one of the would-be robbers was briefly arrested and then released.