Features

Sexual assaults continue 

Berkeley police received three more reports this week of sexual assaults south of UC Berkeley’s campus. There are now 20 such incidents associated with a white male suspect.  

“We believe it’s the same guy,” said Officer Andrew Frankel. 

The man is described as in his 20s, about 5’10,”of medium build with short, dark wavy hair.  

On Saturday, Feb. 28, two young women claimed they were assaulted by a young white man fitting the description of the suspect given to police after a Feb. 20 incident. One woman was assaulted around 3:45 p.m. while walking north on Piedmont Avenue from Channing Way. The second said she was attacked on Dwight Way east of College Avenue around 11 p.m. Both victims, who were alone at the time, claim their attacker tried to penetrate their vaginas with his finger. Unlike the previous victims, the two women were not wearing skirts: one wore shorts, while the other had on stretch pants.  

This week, another victim came forward and reported a similar assault in October. In total, there have been 20 such attacks and 19 victims.  

Over the past few weeks, Berkeley police have stationed additional officers in the South Campus area, handed out copies of the suspect’s sketch and description to residents, and addressed fraternities and sororities about the issue. The majority of victims were attacked while on their way home from fraternity parties. Police are advising young women not to walk home alone at night, and have asked fraternity members to escort their guests home. 

Attacked with detergent, knife 

A Berkeley woman was arrested Saturday morning after a dispute with her uncle turned violent. Around 8:20 a.m. on Feb. 28, Nicole Jones, 27, got into an argument in a house on the 2700 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Jones threw a bottle of detergent at her 66-year-old uncle, hitting him in the head. She then hurled a kitchen knife at her uncle, narrowly missing him. Her uncle called police, and Jones was arrested at the house. She faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and a probation violation. 

Stolen gun 

On Monday, an elderly man informed police that a handgun had been stolen from his home on the 1000 block of Middlefield Road. The 79-year-old told police he had been in the hospital for three months. Upon returning home, he noticed a .357 caliber Luger revolver he kept on the top shelf of his bedroom closet was missing. 

Shoplifting turns violent 

A Berkeley Bowl shoplifter was arrested Sunday afternoon after fleeing store security guards and attacking them on a nearby street, according to police. Around 5:38 p.m., store security guards monitoring surveillance cameras noticed Scott O’Day, 28, of Oakland, walking out of the store with food stashed under his jacket and in a motorcycle helmet.  

Two guards went outside and tried to detain O’Day. The 28-year-old took off running, dumping food as he went. When the guards caught up with him on the 2700 block of Fulton, O’Day struck one of them with his motorcycle helmet. The other guard wrestled him to the ground and held him until police arrived on the scene. O’Day is charged with strongarm robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.