Category Archives: Crime
Police blotter: Recent crime in Berkeley
This is a partial list of recent crimes in Berkeley based on information from the Berkeley Police Department and the UC Berkeley Police Department. For other sources of information on crime in Berkeley see Community CrimeView and Crimemapping.com.
Robbery, Shattuck Avenue and Center Street
On Saturday, December 3, at approximately midnight a robbery occurred at the corner of Shattuck and Center. The victim, a 21-year old male, was standing at a bus stop when a male came up behind him. The victim turned around and the suspect demanded his wallet. Fearing for his safety, the victim gave the suspect the cash from his wallet. The suspect fled on foot southbound on Shattuck. BPD officers detained a male matching the description of the suspect on Shattuck and Haste. The suspect was positively identified by the victim and taken into custody. The victim was not physically injured during the encounter.
The suspect arrested is described as John Hee Lee, an Asian male, 29 years of age. The UCPD site has a photo of the suspect. … Continue reading »
Police blotter: Recent crime in Berkeley
This is a partial list of recent crimes in Berkeley based on information from the Berkeley Police Department and the UC Berkeley Police Department. For other sources of information on crime in Berkeley see Community CrimeView and Crimemapping.com.
Arson, Dwinelle Hall Men’s Room, #11-04877
On Monday, November 28, 2011 at 8:26 p.m., UCPD received a report of a fire in the men’s restroom on floor C of Dwinelle Hall. Officers arrived on scene and found smoke coming out of the men’s room door. The Berkeley Fire Department (BFD) arrived on scene and extinguished the fire. BFD informed officers that there had been two fires in the restroom. Paper toilet seat covers had been stuffed inside a toilet paper dispenser and set on fire and the restroom garbage can had also been set on fire. The UC Fire Marshal determined that the fires were arson. The fires caused smoke and flame damage to the interior of the restroom stall and the restroom walls and completely melted the toilet paper dispenser. No one was injured by the fire. There is no suspect(s) description at this time. … Continue reading »
Man sentenced to life for 2008 Berkeley murders
Desmen Lankford, 27, who was convicted in September of the murder of two East Bay men, was sentenced on November 10th to life in prison without parole.
The shootings of Kevin Antoine Parker, 42, of Oakland and Kelvin Earl Davis, 26, of Berkeley in front of 1436 Derby Street on Sept. 18, 2008 was the result of a gang war, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney James Sheehan.
Lankford was a member of The Cold Gunnaz, a North Oakland gang that had been involved in a feud with a south Berkeley gang since 2003. Lankford had a dispute with Davis’s twin brother, Melvin, but, when he couldn’t find Melvin Davis, he shot Kelvin Davis instead, according to Sheehan. Parker had just sold Kelvin Davis a car and the two were standing outside the apartment building when Lankford opened fire. … Continue reading »
A Berkeley High star-turned-rapper takes tumble
When Nathan Simmons graduated from Berkeley High School in 2003, he was lauded as an example of a student who seemed destined to go far.
Simmons had been a leader at Berkeley High. He played on the varsity basketball and tennis teams, took many AP classes, got mostly As, and served a semester as student body president. Half-white and half-black, Simmons had been selected by the administration to attend a conference in Cleveland Heights on the achievement gap, an appointment that garnered him mentions in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Daily Californian, and the Daily Planet.
And then there was his acceptance to Harvard.
“When I first got there I was on the Harvard trip — like, I’m gonna do this shit, I’m gonna get a great job, and I’m gonna be living my life,” Simmons told the East Bay Express in April. “Somewhere along the way, that changed.” … Continue reading »
Man shot at Cal’s Haas School identified, died in hospital
Update, 5:34 pm: More details continue to emerge in the case. According to information released by UC Berkeley at 5:23 pm, UCPD Captain Margo Bennett said that four officers, not three as previously reported, entered the school’s computer lab where the suspect Christopher Travis had gone on Tuesday. Nine people were in the room at the time, in addition to Travis, she said. The Alameda County coroner’s office conducted an autopsy this morning on Travis and a report will … Continue reading »
Shaken Cal Chancellor recalls Kent State, Virginia Tech
[See update at foot of story.]
“Now we’re there along with Kent State and Virginia Tech,” said a visibly upset Chancellor Robert Birgeneau at the end of a press conference today about the shooting at the Haas School of Business. No students, faculty or staff were injured in the incident — the only injury was to the unidentified suspect.
The chancellor received news of the incident at his home, following a lunchtime meeting there. He had thought the main focus of the day would be the Occupy Cal protests. “We’re very pleased with the way the students have conducted themselves today,” Birgeneau told the press conference. “I have confidence in our students that they’ll stay focused on the important issues, which are disinvestment in higher education by our state and higher tuitions.”
But the first shooting on the Cal campus for over 20 years changed the tenor of the day.
According to UC Police Chief Mitch Celaya, there is no evidence that the suspect had any connection to the protests. Throughout his description of the events leading to the shooting, he cautioned that his department was at a “very preliminary stage” of the investigation. The press conference was held at 4:00pm, less than two hours after the incident. … Continue reading »
Police blotter: Recent crime in Berkeley
This is a partial list of recent crimes in Berkeley based on information from the Berkeley Police Department and the UC Berkeley Police Department. For other sources of information on crime in Berkeley see Community CrimeView and Crimemapping.com.
Armed Robbery, Oxford Lane and Oxford Street #11-61723
On Monday, October 31, 2011 at 8:15 p.m. an armed robbery occurred on Oxford Street across the street from the UC campus. Three unaffiliated juvenile females were standing in the Oxford Lane alleyway when they were approached by a male on a bicycle. The male chatted with the victims and then departed. The male returned approximately 10 minutes later in a black SUV with two male companions. The males got out of the vehicle and started a conversation with the victims. The males then began grabbing the victims inappropriately. The victims tried to leave the scene but the suspect who was originally on the bicycle pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the victims. He grabbed a bracelet off the arm of one of the victims and then tried to grab her phone. … Continue reading »
Drug arrest leads to tense moments at Berkeley High
Update, 11.01.11: The BPD has released a photograph of the replica gun officers recovered Monday in this case (left). It was a realistic looking Desert Eagle gun, the BPD reported. In an email release, the BDP writes: “The young man and woman are being booked at the BPD Juvenile booking facility, the 17 male who does not currently attend school for 148(PC) – Resisting or Obstructing an officer and the 15 year old (a 10th grade BHS student) for 11357(b) PC – Possession of less than 28.5 g of marijuana and an outstanding warrant.”
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Berkeley High officials briefly secured the school perimeter this afternoon after a 17-year old who had been stopped for selling drugs in MLK Park ran toward the area.
A Berkeley police officer witnessed a hand-to-hand drug transaction around 3:19 pm between the 17-year old and a 15-year old sophomore from Berkeley High, according to Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. The police officer rode his bike over to the teens and told them to sit down. He called for back up, but the 17-year old ran away and tossed a gun he was carrying under a car, said Sgt. Kusmiss. The officer caught up with the 17-year old and detained him. An investigation revealed the gun was a very-real looking fake Desert Eagle, said Sgt. Kusmiss.
As a safety precaution, Principal Pasquale Scuderi briefly closed the perimeter of the school, said Superintendent Bill Huyett. … Continue reading »
Police blotter: Recent crime in Berkeley
Parole stop/search leads to narcotics arrest – Harrison and Eighth Streets
A BPD Patrol officer was familiar with a 31-year old male parolee who was living in a Dodge van in the area of Harrison and Eighth Streets. He and another officer located the parolee’s van on Monday, October 24 at about 12:30 p.m. The handling officer conducted a parole search of the individual and his van. During the course of the search, the officer found 34 individual wrapped pieces of crack cocaine (packaged for sale), cash, a cell phone and material used to package narcotics for sale. The officer arrested him for violations of 11351.5 H&S – Possession of Narcotics For Sale and 3056PC – Parole Violation.
Commercial burglary via door pry – 1900 block of Addison Street
Sometime between Saturday, October 25 at about 10:15 p.m. and Sunday, October 26 at 10:35 a.m. an unknown suspects or suspects pried the front door of a non-profit and stole two laptops. The BPD handling officer requested that the BPD CSI process the business for anything of evidentiary value. … Continue reading »
Man shot in Berkeley home robbery, suspect at large
A man was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries in a home invasion robbery in the 1600 block of Derby Street in Berkeley at 3:00 am on Saturday October 22. The suspect fled and is still at large.
The home invasion was not random, according to Lieutenant Kevin Schofield of the Berkeley Police Department. “We believe the suspect targeted these people specifically,” he said.
A short time after the suspect left the scene of the crime, a BPD officer spotted the … Continue reading »
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