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Twelve men were arrested Thursday night during a prostitution-abatement sweep along southern San Pablo Avenue, according to Capt. Bobby Miller of the Berkeley Police Department. 

The men arrested solicited an undercover female officer for various sexual acts near the corner of San Pablo and Heinz Avenue. The officer’s partner performed the arrests. 

The department’s Special Enforcement Unit organized the sting after receiving a number of complaints from residents and homeowners in the area.  

The SEU has said its efforts in the neighborhood will continue until the problem has been solved. 

Seven chameleons were stolen from a West Berkeley reptile shop Monday afternoon, according to Lt. Cynthia Harris of the BPD. 

Two people, a man and a woman, entered the East Bay Vivarium on Fifth Street at around 3 p.m. Harris said while the woman was completing a transaction for the purchase of crickets, the man allegedly grabbed a box or bag containing the reptiles, which are valued at around $125 each.  

The male suspect is described as African-American, around 40 years old, and five feet, 11 inches tall and 200 pounds. He had brown eyes and brown hair, and wore a gray or black coat and brown slacks. 

The female suspect is described as African-American, around 35 years old, five feet six to five feet ten inches tall and 150 pounds. She was wearing a long black coat and a red print dress. 

The stolen reptiles are “Jackson’s Chameleons” – tree-dwelling, insectivorous creatures native to East Africa. According to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology, the species generally appears in some shade of green, depending on its surroundings, but may turn dark black when frightened. The male of the species displays three rhinoceros-like horns. 

A spokesperson for the East Bay Vivarium told the BPD that he had received information that the suspects had attempted to fence the chameleons to a pet store in San Leandro. 

The BPD is treating the incident as a case of grand theft.