Features

Shots fired, two found 

911 operators were flooded with calls from concerned West Berkeley residents at 9:21 p.m. Saturday, all reporting that they’d heard a volley of gunfire near the intersection of Seventh and Addison streets. 

Officers scoured the scene but weren’t able to find any evidence of the shooting, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

Two hours later, a resident returned home to find a bullet hole in a front window and called police. Responding officers found spent .40-caliber shell casings and a second bullet impact in the residence’s front yard. 

Just who fired the shots—and why—remains a mystery. 

Rat pack punch 

A gang of three teenagers confronted a 20-year-old Berkeley woman as she walked along the 2400 block of Carleton Street about 3:30 Sunday morning. 

After one of the trio punched her in the mouth, the gang stole her backpack and wallet, then fled. 

Belated report 

A woman walked into the Berkeley Police Department Sunday morning to report that she’d been robbed the night before by a strongarm bandit who stole her purse and cell phone as she was walking along the 2500 block of Telegraph Ave. 

Failed heist 

A 52-year-old Oakland woman who’d just been confronted by a strongarm heister demanding her purse bolted instead into a nearby store—Metro Lighting in the 2100 block of San Pablo Avenue. 

The robber had been long gone by the time officers arrived. 

GTP 

That’s grand theft . . . piano, the offense reported by the owner of a Sacramento music store who arrived at his storage facility in the 1000 block of Folger Avenue only to discover that 10 of his prize pianos had been stolen. 

Because there was no sign of forced entry, detectives are investigating the possibility that the theft was carried out by a former employee, said Officer Galvan. 

“To make it even worse, he later saw one of his pianos for sale on craigslist.com,” said the officer. 

Short but deadly 

Walking along the 1500 block of Oregon Street Monday afternoon, a man found himself confronted by a five-foot-tall youth packing an adult-sized handgun. 

When the robber demanded his wallet, the man complied, then headed to the lobby of the Berkeley Police Department, where he reported the crime. 

Powerful thirst 

A short-haired bicyclist with a profound thirst stormed into L&K Liquors just after 6 p.m. Monday, where he pulled a knife, waved it at the manager, then grabbed two pint-sized cans of King Cobra Malt Liquor before beating a retreat and biking away. 

The beer peddler was long gone from the 2495 Sacramento St. store by the time the black-and-whites arrived. 

Unsnatched purse 

A purse not snatched can be news, too—at least to San Francisco resident Rita Jeremy, who was visiting Berkeley Saturday night. 

“I lost my purse. It wasn’t stolen, it fell off my shoulder near Piedmont and Bancroft,” she said. “Someone very nice found it and handed it in to the Police Department.” 

Informed that it had been recovered, Jeremy came to Berkeley Wednesday, where she was delighted to discover that she’d lost none of her cash, her ID or her keys. 

The finder turned in the purse to Officer Brian White, who turned it over to the police property room. 

“I want to thank whoever turned it in,” said Jeremy. “And I thought your readers would like to hear something very positive about life in Berkeley.”›