Features

Strong-Arm Artist Gets Cash 

A bandit with ready fists convinced a pedestrian to hand over his cash shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday near the corner of Russell and King streets, then drove away, said Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Spat Takes Sharper Edge  

A Berkeley man called police after a row with an acquaintance evolved into a potentially deadly confrontation about 7:30 p.m. Thursday when one of the participants pulled and knife and stormed off, vowing to come back with a rifle. 

The suspect returned when police arrived at the scene near the corner of Michigan and Maryland avenues, Okies said. The incident is still under investigation. 

Upper Story Hot Prowler  

An alert citizen spotted a man with a ladder trying to force his way into a second floor dwelling near Delaware Street and McGee Avenue 20 minutes before midnight Thursday. 

Alarmed at being discovered, the would-be hot prowl burglar gave up his efforts and took flight before police arrived. 

Reluctant Bashing Victim 

When a man appeared in a the Alta Bates emergency room with a wound to the back of his head at 6:30 p.m. Friday, he wouldn’t tell health care workers how he’d been injured, so they called Berkeley Police. 

Under questioning, the injured man allowed that he’d been struck with a metal object. Police identified a possible suspect, but no arrest has yet been made, said Officer Okies. 

Battering Teens Sought 

Berkeley police are seeking a pair of teenagers on assault with a deadly weapon charges stemming from a fists and kicks beatdown administered to another young man Saturday morning near the corner of Russell Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way.