In all the reported crimes, victims saw an ad on Craigslist and arranged to meet the purported seller at his alleged home address. Upon arriving, the victims were held up at gunpoint. Similar crimes have been reported in Oakland this summer, but the Berkeley Police Department said they have so far been unable to establish any links between the Berkeley and Oakland crimes.

Three of the four Berkeley crimes took place in the Elmwood/Claremont neighborhoods: on July 3 at 9:20 p.m. in the 2800 block of Piedmont Avenue; on July 9 at 10:45 p.m. in the block of 80 Hillcrest Road; and on July 31 at 9:13 p.m. on Hillcrest Road/Hillcrest Court. The other reported Berkeley crime was June 28 at 9:22 p.m. on the 3000 block of Wheeler Street in South Berkeley.  … Continue reading »