Crime

UC police investigating death of college student

July 7, 2010 8:10 am by Frances Dinkelspiel

Nicholas Bailey

UC Berkeley police are investigating the death of a Sacramento State University student who was found unconscious in the 2500 block of Haste Street around 9 am July 2.

Nicholas Bailey, 21, died at Highland Hospital on July 4, two days after he had been discovered lying on the street under a balcony, suffering from head trauma and abrasions around his hands, according to news reports. He was removed from life support after his organs were donated.

Bailey was last seen around 1:30 am Friday at Blake’s on Telegraph, about a block away from the campus, according to UC police. Bailey left the bar to walk a female friend home.

When he was discovered later that morning, UC Berkeley police did not appear to consider that he had died under suspicious circumstances, Bailey family members told KTVU television. He was suffering from seizures and police at first thought Bailey had fallen from a balcony, according to family members. It was only after an autopsy revealed that he had died from blunt head trauma that police informed the family that an assault may have happened.

Bailey had graduated from Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, attended Holy Names University in Oakland for a year on a basketball scholarship, and was majoring in criminal justice at Sacramento State, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

If anyone has any information about Bailey or the incident, please call the University of California Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau: (510) 642-0472, 8am–5pm or (510) 642-6760 all other times.

18 Comments

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  • laura menard

    He was found in the Anna Head parking lot, adjacent Peoples Park. if you recall there was a CoB press release recently about the spike in assaults in that immediate area involving blows to the head from behind. These type of assaults are common in Berkeley, have been for decades.

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  • Missing NICK :(

    just because those types of assaults are common doesn`t excuse the fact that the police didn`t even consider the fact that he had died from something more than just a fall. the thought that they concluded his death of being from a fall from a balcony so quickly is suspicious to me.

    R.I.P. Nick ; we miss you

  • laura menard

    Missing Nick,

    I agree with your concern about the official response. In fact I just got chewed out for griping about it on this blog.

    I am so sorry to his family and friends for this horrible loss.

  • George Beier

    My heart goes out to the young man’s family. I can’t imagine what they must be feeling. I’ll tuck in an extra prayer for them tonight. And one for the BPD too — urging them to resolve this case as quickly as they can to help bring some sense of understanding for the family of what happend.

  • Alan Williams

    If the police feel that Nicholas fell from a balcony, then they simply need to visit the apartments (with balconies) and ask if the victim was present in that person’s apartment, do they know the victim, etc.? This is not rocket science. Things do not add up in this case and there is a good chance that Nicholas was assaulted. I read that the family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case. I hope the grieving family can find some answers soon.

  • http://basiscraft.com Thomas Lord

    Before too many tin-foil hats are donned perhaps we should note that police in general are customarily and for good reason not always entirely forthcoming about their suspicions in the early days of an investigation.

    Look at the KTVU article and the quote from Capt. Bennet:

    “”Right now we do not have any information that can identify for us how he suffered his injuries,” she said. “Was it an intentional infliction of injuries or was it accidental? We don’t have any info that can say one way or another.”"

    They were waiting for the autopsy before saying much.

  • Missing Nick :(

    BULLSHIT , perhaps we should call it what it is , police not doing their jobs. By assuming his cause of death as falling off a balcony &+ nothing more shows they had no intention of investigating his death from the beginning. Let`s be honest , even if they suspected he fell off the balcony — that suspicion alone requires some kind of investigation before ruling anything else out. If they didn`t want to give any specifics about the cause of death &+ were waiting for the autopsy, they shouldn`t have even said he died from falling from a balcony. The police should have treated his death just like any other case , same time , attention , &+ respect of finding out the truth &+ what really happen. I`ve read EVERY article about his case &+ all the articles say the same about the police neglecting to investigate his death. His family deserves to know what happen or at least be shown there was some effort put into the determination of his death , not just a guess from how they found his body.

    As a friend &+ schoolmate of Nicholas Bailey , ii`m sadden to have lost him at such a young age but also perturbed that he is not getting the time &+ attention he deserves.

    R.I.P. Nick , we love you honeyy &+ we won`t stop questioning until we get some answers.

  • http://basiscraft.com Thomas Lord

    Missing Nick :(,

    This case is, I gather, painful for you and close to your heart. I hope I have deep respect for you, the family, and Mr. Bailey — its true anyway that I might fail at having that deep respect. But let me try.

    Look at, for example, the KTVU article about the family concerns. Capt. Bennet’s statements are definitely extremely reserved. She categorically refuses, at that stage, to either rule in or rule out foul play. She solicits, broadly, any information that might be out there about the circumstances. She is waiting for an autopsy to confirm the worst suspicions. Remember that loose lips of the police at that stage can easily compromise an investigation or a later prosecution.

    Those are common and probably best police practices. There’s no indication there that they didn’t suspect foul play or were failing to investigate – there’s indication of the opposite. They did suspect foul play. They were investigating. They play their cards close to their vest.

    I can’t imagine how horrible it is to lose a friend that way. I can try to imagine it but I’m sure I can’t appreciate just how deep such a wound is.

    It’s just that it isn’t the case that all the reporting on the incident indicates police neglect. It’s pretty much the opposite.

    Peace, I hope…

    -t

  • Rah Heem

    R.I.P NICK MY BEST FRIEND

  • Alan Williams

    What’s going on with this case? Someone has to know something. I know that UC Berkeley has an image to protect, but seriously if a murder happened on campus owned property, I think we need to make every effort to find who is responsible. My instinct tells me that Nicholas’ death was not just an accident.

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  • Liz Norris

    Hello everyone, I am a relative of Nick’s. We appreciate all of the support from everyone. Please continue to do whatever it takes to keep the focus on finding who murdered Nick!!! Please allow me to clarify a few comments that have been made. NO ONE in our family ever advised KTVU are anyone else that Nick had seizures prior to his death! This was a possibility after he had laid out on the ground over night. I do feel that the police are trying to do their job, HOWEVER I also think that they would like to keep this case on a very low key. Lets face it would any of us want our kids at Berkeley if we new serious crimes were occuring on campus are in the area. If you can assist with passing out flyers around the area we would be forever grateful. Thanks to all of the extended friends that supported our family doing this time. Nicholas was truly loved by all of his friends.

    Warm regards

  • Pat Bailey

    Nicholas did not have a hisory of having seizures. Not sure where that came from, but it didn’t come from a family member as reported..

  • Pat Bailey

    Nicholas did not have a history of having seizure as reported, not sure where that came from.

  • jb

    We played at Pepsi park all the time we use to call him holy names cause thats the college he had went too. Dam that name fit well cause what he could do wit a basketball was off the chain he was fast he could dunk and had a crazy jump shot. Dam he could jump we would be playing and see dat durango pulling up too the park everyone would want nick on their team cause he knew how to play the game of basketball. one time these really good basketball players came to the park they already had their team i turned to nick and said lets get a team and play aganist them he said alright they had two guys that were 6′ 7 and 6 ’4 . SHIT NICK TOOK OVER he was making jump shots none stop he had a CROWD watchin they couldnt believe what they were seeing i was on his team and at times i was watchin him wit the all durng the game like WOW he was THAT GOOD .TO NICK PARENTS U PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW THIS BUT YOUR SON HAD A GIFT WIT A BASKETBALL THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET HE ALSO HAD A GREAT ATTITUDE MISS U NICK LUV U BRO

  • Pat Bailey

    I”m glad to see that my son touch so many lifes. We loved Nicholas and miss him so much. I ask the police about the coments that Laura made and they denied this ever happening in the area. But you know that U C Berkeley is hurting know. So they are going to cover up and not do there jobs just to protect the school. I do know that when I arrived at the hospital half of my sons thing were there and the others were at the police station. I didn’t like the fact that they just thought he felled and question it. I question them about my sons keys that were missing, they didn’t know he had a car with him. I do know that with any investigation the frist 72 hours are important. The next day they came back to the hospital to get my son thing ,that they had sent to the hospital. I call monthly to see what they are doing , they say that they are working on the case. They also says that the guy Jerrard who was with Nicholas wont come in to look at pictures. I called Angela the mother of Jerrard and she says that they are lying. She also said that they (she and her husband) don’t like the way they (police) question her son. Last month they had more picture for Jerrard to look at. Again I called Angela and she said would get them to come to them. The police says that they are not co-orporating. I don’t know what to beleave there. I’ll just keep praying, because I kinow that there is a God and he will get to the bottom of this.
    The 24th of this month is Nicholas birthday, he would have been 22. I’m planning on going to Dave and Buster at the Great Mall on Saturday the 26th at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate his birthday. He liked that place, and I’m going to play all the games he enjoyed.
    The frist thing that keeps me going is my faith in GOD. The second is my daughter. The third thing is that all of the recipients who received my son organ are doing well. I think what touch me most is that a two year boy who received my son kidney and is doing well. As I cry now writing this, I’m also happy for the ones who are still here because of my son death. May God continue to bless you and give me and my family peace..
    Missing you my boy.

  • Jabarwatson

    i figured jerrod was wit nick  that nite cause they would come to the nite club where i worked at and ask me to let them in. And thats when i met jerrod for the first time. Nick said that was his boy so he seemed cool to me. THEY were not shy of talkin to the ladies in the club both of them was always on the dance floor dancing wit pretty girls . I bet anyone any kind of money if u probably ask jerrod to this day that they were talking to some fine girls and some dudes started hating on them i would luv to talk to jerrod one day if i could find him. Him and nick were Macks in the club when they came to see me i would tell them when u come in dont steal anyones girls when u come inside tonite. They would lol but girls in the club that nite would always be looking at them and the girls that would be lookin had boyfriends . Nick and jerrod would be the first ones dancing if the dance floor was empty then girls would start dancing wit them out of nowhere they would be surrounded by ladies it was amazing people would ask who are those dudes i would tell them thats my people dancing.And one day that guy right there is going to be a basketball player in  the NBA. I pointed to Nick some of the people knew Nick in the club that i worked at that nite. He actually went to to school with alot of people in the party that nite.Some hating ass SCUMBAGS took my friend away i feel that in my heart. Jerrod if u reading this what happened that nite . And where are the cameras from the establishment that they were in that nite in berekely its got to show something its been to long. I