Editorials

An Oakland man was robbed early Friday morning in a parking lot on Fourth Street. 

The 27-year-old was sitting in his car around 4 a.m. when he observed the silhouette of another man near the exterior of the Takara Sake plant at the corner of Allston Way and Fourth Street. The driver decided to leave his vehicle, and when he approached the other man, the two struck up a conversation, according to Berkeley Police Capt. Bobby Miller. The men walked about a block away from the lot, then returned to the first man’s vehicle. 

Once they got in the car, the second man pulled out a handgun and told the first man to give him everything he had. The suspect took a backpack, jacket, wallet and yellow metal ring from the man. He also demanded that the victim give him the keys to the car, and then ordered the victim to walk away from the car. The man complied with both orders. The suspect fled from the scene with the stolen items and the car keys – but not the car. The suspect was described as an African-American male, between 25 and 27 years old. He was around 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with a thin build. 

Miller said that in the report, the victim did not explain why he was sitting in the parking lot at 4 o’clock in the morning.