Features

Paintballs redux 

Berkeley’s phantom paintballer has been at it again, reports police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

On July 20, the mysterious pigment blaster nailed a 23-year-old Berkeley resident as she walked along the 1700 block of University Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. 

Within moments of that attack, police received a second call, with the victim in that case a 15-year-old who was hit on her lip as she walked along San Pablo Avenue near the Cedar Street intersection. 

Earlier in the day, publicity about the rash of attacks had triggered another call, this one reporting an incident that had happened on July 12. In that case, a 12-year-old boy was struck in the back as he walked along University Avenue near Acton Street. 

None of the victims saw their attacker—nor did any of the other folks who have been hit in the recent rash of attacks. 

The mysterious shooter could face some serious jail time if caught, since police are looking at each incident as a case of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Trash arsons 

Someone is setting Berkeley’s trash afire, reports Officer Galvan. 

Police are investigating three separate incidents in which persons unknown have ignited the contents of waste receptacles. 

Police found the first blaze at 1:17 a.m. last Monday when they responded to a report about noisy skateboarders near the Shattuck Avenue/Channing Way intersection. Once on scene, they found a trash can ablaze, but no sign of the fire bug. 

The next call came 84 minutes later, this time reporting that the contents of a city trash can were ablaze on Telegraph Avenue near the corner of Dowling Way. 

The next call, which came in at 8:40 p.m. on Tuesday evening, came from staff at the North Berkeley Senior Center, reporting on a trash can blaze a week earlier that had charred a wooden bench outside the 1901 Hearst Ave. center. 

Another mysterious fire was reported on July 21, when firefighters who responded to a parked car fire in the 2700 block of Sojourner Truth Way were unable to find a non-suspicious reason why the vehicle burst into flames. 

Marina shooting 

A 20-year-old Richmond man was shot in the Hs Lordship’s parking lot in the Berkeley Marina about 2:30 on the morning of July 22, reports Officer Galvan. 

Summoned by a report of gunshots heard in the Marina, Berkeley Police arrived as two cars were leaving the Marina. In the parking lot they found the victim, suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and unwilling to give his name. 

With a little encouragement, the fellow finally identified himself, and said his attackers were fellow Richmond folk. 

He was taken to Highland Hospital for treatment of his injury. 

SUV attack 

The driver of a black Yukon SUV drove her vehicle into a pedestrian after she and her friends had tried and failed to crash a party in the 1300 block of Alcatraz Avenue about 10 p.m. on July 22. 

The victim wasn’t seriously hurt, and the Yukon was gone by the time police arrived. 

Blanketed bandit 

A tall man wrapped in a blanket walked into the Marina Lodge at 975 University Ave. about 9 p.m. on July 20 and—after telling the clerk he had a gun concealed beneath his wrap—demanded the contents of the till. 

The bandit departed after the clerk complied. 

Intimidators busted 

Three young fellows braced an 18-year-old Oakland man as he walked along the 2400 block of Telegraph Avenue just before midnight on the 20th, then demanded his money. 

The man complied, then promptly called police, offering descriptions of the trio. A prowl car soon found a group that matched the particulars, and after an ID session, busted two of them, both juveniles. 

Shoe assault 

Police arrested a 24-year-old Emeryville man after he allegedly attacked his Berkeley girlfriend with her own footwear. 

Police responded to the woman’s call at 9:03 a.m. on July 23, and arrived at her residence in the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way in time to name the suspect, who was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery on a partner and making a criminal threat. 

Sexual assaults 

Police have few leads in two reported sexual assaults. 

While the first was reported on July 20, the incident took place 11 months earlier in the parking lot of a Berkeley cannabis club—just which one the caller couldn’t say. 

The caller was a relative of the victim, underage at the time of the incident. The young woman herself was unwilling to cooperate with investigators, Galvan said. 

Both the caller and the victim are Redwood City residents, said Galvan. 

In the second incident, which occurred last Monday, the victim said she was beaten and raped by a man she only knew by his street name. 

The case has been referred to investigators, Officer Galvan said.