Updated 4/17/19: This article has been updated to reflect additional information from court documents received from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
Berkeley police officers responded to a report of gunfire on Southside early Saturday morning, according to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Byron White.
Authorities detained four suspects near their vehicle in a private off-street parking lot located on the south side of Durant Avenue near Bowditch Street, according to White. Officers found bullet casings on the ground nearby on the 2500 block of Durant Avenue.
After searching the vehicle, officers discovered 798 pounds of marijuana, cash, a handgun and items “commonly used in selling drugs,” White said in an email.
Upon further investigation, officers arrested two suspects on suspicion of negligently discharging a firearm as well as several other weapon and drug violations. The suspects — identified as Pittsburg resident Carlos Rafael Vallejo Pineda, 23, and Antioch resident Joshua Trey Kellogg, 24 — are now facing two felony charges each, according to court documents.
Both Vallejo-Pineda and Kellogg were arrested and booked into Santa Rita Jail early Saturday morning, with bail set at $330,000. Both suspects will have their pretrial hearings April 23 at René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.
Two other people were detained and arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and obstructing a police investigation but were later released with a citation, according to White.
This event is the second incident of gunfire on the same block in the span of a weekend. According to a Nixle alert released Friday morning, UCPD and BPD officers responded to reports of six gunshots near Durant Avenue about 1:37 a.m. Friday.
The suspect, who was described by witnesses as a man wearing a grey hoodie, fled with a female driver in a black Mazda sedan heading south on Bowditch Street. No victims came forward after the incident, and it is still unknown whether the gunfire was intended for a target, according to the alert.
That same night, UCPD received reports of three more gunshots about 2:10 a.m., this time on the 2300 block of Piedmont Avenue near the southeast corner of the UC Berkeley campus, according to the alert. Although UCPD and BPD officers responded, no victims or suspects were found.
At 2:17 a.m., UCPD received another report of a gunshot on the 2500 block of Warring Street near Clark Kerr Campus, according to the alert. When officers responded to the area, they did not find any victims or suspects.