Features

Rape attempt arrest 

Police have arrested a suspect in the attempted Oct. 28 rape of a 47-year-old woman in an alleyway in the 2000 block of Shattuck Avenue, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

The 45-year-old suspect was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping for the purpose of a sex crime. 

Fracas busts 

A spat between a couple in the vicinity of Hearst Avenue and Sacramento Street early Thursday afternoon ended with both parties in custody. One was booked on suspicion of domestic partner abuse for landing a punch and the other was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for escalating the fray with a broom handle. 

Rat pack attack 

Six youths aged between 14 and 16 robbed at 15-year-old of his cash near the corner of Regent and Oregon streets a few minutes before 5 p.m. Thursday, said Officer Okies. 

The gang remains at large. 

Kidnap and robbery 

Police are seeking the man who kidnapped a woman shortly before 8 a.m. Friday in an attempted robbery. 

Soon after the crime was reported, a Berkeley police officer stopped the car in question, and when the officer tried to question the driver, he sped off, striking the officer. 

The officer escaped with minor injuries, but the incident added yet another felony—assault with a deadly weapon—to the kidnapping charge facing the man. 

The victim was not in the car at the time of the stop, said Officer Okies, and she is currently in a safe location know to police, he said. 

“It doesn’t appear to be a random incident,” said the officer. “The parties were apparently known to each other.”›