Features

Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 02, 2006

Stuck up 

An El Cerrito woman walking in the 2500 block of Ninth Street about 12:45 a.m. on May 23 was approached from behind by two men, one packing a pistol, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

When they demanded her purse, she complied, and watched as the duo beat their feet eastbound on Dwight Way and out of sight. 

 

Thrown for purse 

Two callers alerted police to screams for help coming from the corner of Regent and Woolsey streets at 8:40 p.m. on the 24th. 

Officers arrived to find a 26-year-old Berkeley woman who had been thrown to the ground by a man who grabbed her purse, which contained cash and an iPod. 

The suspect was gone by the time officers arrived, and the woman was taken to an emergency room for treatment. 

 

Trash fire 

Police and firefighters were called to the 2300 block of Channing Way at 5:20 a.m. last Thursday, where they found a curbside recycling bin ablaze. 

No suspects were located, and the fire was confined to the blue bin. Asked what kind it was, Galvan responded, “Paper, obviously. Bottles and cans don’t burn.” 

 

Beauty shop hit 

When the tall fellow with dreadlocks walked into Ginny’s Beauty Shop on University Avenue just before 11 a.m. last Thursday, he was looking for cash, not a haircut. 

The small black pistol he flashed was enough to convince the beauticians to grant his wish, and he had fled by the time officers arrived. 

 

Bat attack 

A 44-year-old Oakland man was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he and another man attacked a man who was walking in the 2100 block of Seventh Street about 5:20 p.m. last Thursday. 

Officer Galvan said that while the victim was being rushed to an emergency room, officers were able to locate one of the suspects, who was also given a ride—his to the city lockup. 

Galvan said he was unable to report on the condition of the victim, a Berkeley resident. 

 

Rat pack 

The sounds of a woman screaming lead a Bancroft Way resident to call police at 12:15 a.m. last Friday to report that someone was in trouble near the corner of Bancroft and Roosevelt avenues. 

Arriving officers found a 26-year-old Berkeley woman who told them she had just been set upon by a gang of five or six juveniles, who had robbed her of her bag, which included a wallet and credit cards. 

 

Another purse  

An Alameda couple told police they were robbed by a pair of bandits who approached them as they were standing in front of a restaurant at Bowditch Street and Durant Avenue at 3:15 p.m. last Friday. 

The pair made off with the woman’s purse and its contents, said Officer Galvan. 

 

Bandits in furs 

Four young women, two of them wearing fur-lined black jackets, stole a Berkeley woman’s wallet and cell phone when they braced her in the 2400 block of Haste Street just before 2 a.m. Saturday. 

UC Police Department officers found the wallet nearby, and three of suspects were located within minutes—in part because of their unique garb. 

“You shouldn’t wear fur in Berkeley,” said Galvan. 

The suspects were all Oakland juveniles, he said.