Features

Investigation continues 

The investigation of a Berkeley police officer suspected in the theft of evidence continues, reports department spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

“Since it’s an ongoing investigation, I can’t comment about who’s involved,” Galvan said. 

The officer, reportedly the son of a high-ranking official, was the subject of official searches by agents of the Department of Justice, sources have reported. Galvan declined to confirm or deny those reports. 

Rape reported 

A 16-year-old San Leandro girl told police she was raped by an acquaintance near the corner of Prince and Tremont streets—near the Ashby BART parking lot—about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 2. 

The young woman identified the suspect, and an investigation is continuing, reports Officer Galvan. 

Boy robs boy 

A 15-year-old called police just after 9 p.m. on July 27 to report he’d just been relieved of his cell phone and cash by another youth, 17 or older, who made his getaway on a shiny red bike with chopped handles. 

The incident took place near the corner of Dwight Way and San Pablo Avenue. 

Now that’s mean 

That’s the judgment Officer Galvan pronounces on the mean-spirited man who robbed a 19-year-old Irish tourist of his wallet, cell phone and glasses near the corner of Bancroft Way and Shattuck Avenue about 11:30 p.m. on the 27th. 

“I guess he didn’t want him to see where he was going,” said Galvan. “But the poor guy is going to be thinking about that every time he remembers his trip to Berkeley.” 

Beatdown heist 

A 16-year-old Berkeley boy staggered into a liquor store near the corner of Eighth Street and Allston Way at 7 p.m. July 28 to report that he’d just been slugged in the face and robbed of his cash by another youth. 

Boxcutter attack 

A 50-something man armed with a boxcutter slashed a 21-year-old Berkeley man outside the UA Theater about 9 p.m. on the 28th. 

Paramedics took the injured man to the emergency room for a neck injury sustained in the attack. The suspect had already departed and was last seen headed south of Shattuck Avenue. 

Van flight 

A 34-year-old Forest Knoll man was robbed by a pair of bandits as he walked along the 3100 block of Telegraph Avenue just after 2 a.m. on the 29th, said Officer Galvan. 

The baddies boogied in a white car with a sliding door, said their victim. 

Razor slasher 

A 48-year-old Oakland man was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after he slashed a 36-year-old Berkeley woman with a razor blade on July 29. 

Officers arrived in the 1200 block of 10th Street just before 5 p.m. in response to reports of a fight between a man and a woman inside a parked car. 

The car sustained a broken window and the woman received a minor cut, which paramedics treated at the scene. The man was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. 

Armed robber 

A young gunman with a black pistol robbed an Oakland couple of their valuables as they walked along Channing Way near the corner of Ellsworth Street shortly before 11 p.m. on the 29th. 

The victims, ages 77 and 74, lost a wallet, a purse and cash. 

Rat pack 

A gang of six teenagers surrounded and robbed a 60-year-old Oakland woman as she walked along the 2100 block of San Pablo Avenue just after 11:30 p.m. on the 29th. 

The woman said none of the robbers appeared to be more than 15 years old. 

Trash arson 

After firefighters responded to a series of trash can fires near the corner of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue at 5:30 a.m. on the 31st, a cabbie flagged down an officer to report that he’d seen a homeless man set the blaze. 

The nomadic torch remains at large. 

Felony shoes 

A gunman robbed Bows & Arrows, a boutique in the 2800 block of Telegraph Avenue, of both the contents of the till and four pairs of sneakers—often dubbed “felony shoes” by the badge-and-gun set because of the preference shown them by fleet-of-foot felons. 

The robber, who pulled off his caper just after 2 p.m. on the 31st, had extricated himself from the scene before the first prowl car arrived. 

Smash and grab 

She couldn’t say whether the robber hit her with his fist or the long silver gun he was packing, but the blow was enough to convince her to give the man her wallet and cell phone after he attacked her in the 1300 block of Hopkins Street at 9:30 p.m. on the 31st, said Officer Galvan. 

Rec Center arson 

Someone smashed a window at the San Pablo Recreation Center late in the evening of July 31st, dumped something fluid and flammable on a couch and set it ablaze. 

While the fire did little damage to the concrete structure itself, the smoke and the water sprayed by firefighters did significant damage to the contents, said Officer Galvan. 

Fourth Street heist 

The last clerk to lock up at a trendy shop in the 1800 block of Fourth Street found herself in a confrontation with a pair of bandits as she was locking the descending storefront grate in place just before 2:30 a.m. on Aug 1. 

Unable to rob the shuttered store, they settled for her purse and wallet. 

Home invasion 

A pair of thugs forced their way into a home in the 2600 block of Sacramento Street just before 11 a.m. on Aug. 2, forcing the two occupants to hand over their cash before the two suspects, one aged about 25 and the other about 35, fled in the direction of Longfellow Elementary School. 

Robbers thwarted? 

Police stepped up surveillance of a section of West Berkeley after a series of armed robberies in late July and early August, apparently convincing the bandits to head for safer pastures, reports Officer Galvan. 

In each of the stickups, a pair of bandits, one armed with a black pistol, would approach their marks, then make their play. 

The first incident was reported just after midnight on the 1st, when a woman was robbed of her purse and lunch box in the 1300 block of 10th Street. 

Similar crimes followed in the Walgreen’s parking lot just off the corner of University and San Pablo avenues and in near the Pik ‘N’ Pak market.