UCPD and Berkeley Police Department are investigating a series of armed robberies and attempted robberies, one of which occurred on the west side of the UC Berkeley campus Wednesday night, according to a Nixle alert released Thursday.
A 33-year-old campus affiliate was entering Grinnell Pathway — the lane that leads from Oxford Street up to Campanile Way — at 10:23 p.m. Wednesday when a suspect armed with a handgun approached him. According to the alert, the suspect demanded the victim’s property but fled to a waiting car before obtaining it. The victim was not injured during the incident.
According to the alert, the suspects and the vehicle involved in this robbery attempt are believed to be connected to three additional robberies in Berkeley that night.
The other robberies all occurred just blocks away from campus on Southside.
At 10:15 p.m., a 22-year-old Berkeley woman was walking on the 2500 block of Benvenue Avenue near Dwight Way when two suspects came up from behind her and took her cellphone, according to BPD spokesperson Officer Byron White. The suspects ran away and got into a car on Dwight Way.
Witnesses described one suspect as a 22- to 24-year-old male, about 6 feet tall, wearing a dark hooded top, pants and athletic shoes, White said in the email.
Two hours later, a suspect robbed a 21-year-old Berkeley man at gunpoint on the 2800 block of Bancroft Way near Warring Street. The suspect ran off and got into a waiting car with the man’s bag, which contained his laptop. According to White, the suspect was described as a Black man, approximately 6 feet tall, wearing a black mask and a light-colored hooded top.
At 1:50 a.m. Thursday morning, a car drove up next to two women aged 21 and 22 on Fulton Street near Haste Street. One suspect got out of the car and pointed a handgun at the women, demanding their cellphones. The suspect then got back into the car and drove away.
Witnesses described the suspect as a Black woman with short hair. The people in the car are believed to have been two men, according to White.
Check back for updates.