Features

Brennan’s robbed 

A gunman who waited until after closing time robbed the evening’s take from Brennan’s Irish Pub at 700 University Ave. early Wednesday morning, reports Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

The manager was carrying the contents of the till when a bandit, his face masked by a scarf, shoved the barrel of a pistol into his neck and demanded the cash. 

The gunman then fled with his loot. 

Gets flocked 

Burglar or burglars unknown cut a lock and broke into the Lucky Dog Pet Shop at 2154 San Pablo Ave. that same evening and made off with or “liberated” some 500 pigeons, said Officer Galvan. 

The officer suspects the birds may have been released. Otherwise, “it would take quite a container to haul them away,” he said. 

Car clout interrupted 

A 23-year-old Berkeley man spotted someone in his car in the 2200 block of 9th Street at 2 a.m. Friday, only to find himself face to face with an angry burglar who confronted him with a screwdriver. 

The young man’s mother had meanwhile called police, and officers arrived moments later, in time to apprehend a suspect—a juvenile—nearby.  

Nothing was taken in the incident, said Officer Galvan. 

Sorry about that 

After a bandit tried to steal some jewelry from a 23-year-old woman in the Roxie Food Center on Dwight Way late Friday afternoon, language problems proved momentarily disconcerting for a hapless bystander. 

When the young woman—who has some difficulty with English—called out, workers in the store thought she was referring to a young man nearby, who they grabbed and held down until police arrived. 

Once the language issues were resolved, the poor fellow was liberated with apologies. By then, the actual would-be bandit was long gone. 

Hot, piping prowl 

A resident of the 2800 block of Ellsworth Street was awakened late Saturday evening to discover a pipe-smoking felon in a black trenchcoat in the process of burglarizing his domicile. 

The hapless inhabitant threw his only available weapon, a glass of water, and the darkly clad burglar departed, along with the resident’s laptop computer and his doused pipe. 

Coat heist 

A fellow with a knife robbed a 48-year-old San Francisco man of his brown leather jacket outside the Walgreen’s store at 1050 Gilman St. just as Saturday night became Sunday morning.  

New officers wanted 

Starting Monday, the Berkeley Police Department is looking for a dozen new officers to join the ranks of the city’s finest, reports Officer Galvan. 

“We just received the word, and we are hoping some Berkeley residents apply,” he said. 

The department is accepting applications though March 6, and a tentative date for written and physical exams has been set for March 18. 

Entry level salaries start at $76,284 and applications are available online. For more information, see www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/police/employment/jobinformation.html.