Features

Choked, punched 

Two teenagers choked, punched and robbed a 63-year-old Berkeley man as he walked along Fulton Street near the corner of Stuart Street a few minutes before 7 p.m. on the 21st, 

The two youths, both tall and clad in dark hoodies, were last seen walking north on Fulton. 

Strong-arm trio 

Three teen toughs robbed a 23-year-old Berkeley man of his wallet as he walked along Shattuck Avenue just north of University Avenue at midnight on 20th, reports Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

Police arrived on the scene moments later, and spotted one of the three walking along Shattuck at Center Street. After an identification by the robbed man, police took the youth into custody. 

Stabs self 

An anguished South Berkeley mother called police just after 9 a.m. last Thursday to report that her 16-year-old daughter was holed up in her bedroom with a knife, having just stabbed herself in the leg. 

Officer Galvan said officers spent a long time talking through the closed door before they convinced the young woman to come out. 

She was taken to a mental health facility for evaluation, he said. 

Clubbed 

A bizarre attack by a gang of club-and-bat-swinging gang of teens in the Hs Lordship’s parking lot moments before midnight last Friday left a 23-year-old El Sobrante man more shaken than injured. 

The man—backed up by several witnesses—said he had been sitting in his car when one of the youths suddenly swung his club, shattering the window and striking his shoulder. 

The youths then fled in a white van and a car believed to be a blue Chevrolet Cavalier. The El Sobrante man said he didn’t need help from paramedics, said Officer Galvan. 

Two crimes solved  

When a young Berkeley man called police to report that he’d just been robbed, the officers who responded found themselves solving two crimes at once. 

The call came in at 10 p.m. Saturday from near the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Bancroft Way.  

The 17-year-old victim said he’d just been robbed of his sweatshirt, cell phone and CD player by a pair of bandits who threatened to pound him to a pulp unless he forked over his goodies. 

Police searched the area and found two young men with the missing items, one from Oakland and the other from Alameda. 

But they also had other belongings, including identification belong to a 19-year-old Berkeley woman had called police 23 hours earlier to report that she’d just been robbed by a pair of hoodie-clad bandits near the corner of Parker and Regent Streets. 

Police promptly booked them for that offense as well. 

Peet’s heist 

Two masked men, each wearing a baseball cap and waving a pistol, stormed into the Peet’s Coffee at 2916 Domingo Ave. at 5:18 Monday morning and demanded cash. 

The gunmen, both tall and thin, gathered up the cash and fled. 

Odd wheels 

A three-bandit team, two in a brown sedan and a young teen riding a moped, robbed a 22-year-old Berkeley woman of her cell phone as she walked along Telegraph Avenue near the corner of Haste Street just before 10 a.m. Sunday. 

Flees with Flea funds 

A lone gunman, clad all in black—including his hoodie—burst into the offices of Community Services United at 1937 Ashby Ave. Sunday morning and demanded cash. 

When he got what he wanted, he fled on foot. 

Community Services United is the nonprofit organization that administers the Berkeley Flea Market, held every weekend on the parking lot of the Ashby BART station. 

Rape 

A 36-year-old Berkeley woman called police At 7 a.m. Saturday, reporting that she had just been raped by a former acquaintance, said Officer Galvan. 

She was taken to a local emergency room and identified a 22-year-old suspect to the officers. The investigation is continuing.