UC Berkeley police are investigating the armed robbery and possible battery of a student near the Greek Theatre on Wednesday night. Limited details were available, but the University of California Police Department put out an alert about the robbery, which took place just after 8:30 p.m. in the Foothill parking lot off Cyclotron Road east of the Greek Theatre. UCPD urged people to "avoid the area" of the parking lot "until further notice." "The suspects are still at large and police are on scene," UCPD wrote in the 9 p.m. alert. Sign up for The Berkeley Scanner Authoritative crime + safety new ..read more

Two men stealing a catalytic converter in the Berkeley Hills early Wednesday morning pointed a gun at a resident who interrupted them, authorities report. The incident took place around 3:50 a.m. in the 900 block of Regal Road near Marin Avenue, Berkeley police said in response to a Scanner inquiry. The caller told police the pair pointed a gun at him when he confronted them. The men, who were wearing dark clothing, fled in a gray sedan, police said. The case remains under investigation. Read more about crime in Berkeley. Last week, Berkeley police warned that more "auto burglars, car thieves ..read more

A Berkeley man police say shot at his neighbor for taking his street parking spot is in custody this week facing multiple felonies, according to court records. The non-injury shooting took place April 11 in the 900 block of Channing Way just feet from a mother pushing a baby stroller at about 1 p.m., police said. Deandre Davis, a 52-year-old unemployed felon who lives with his mother on the block, is "known to be confrontational," a witness told police. That's why she decided to record a dispute between Davis and a neighbor on April 11, Berkeley police wrote in court papers. Read more about sh ..read more

The Alameda County DA's office will review dozens of death penalty cases after the discovery of prosecutor notes from a 30-year-old murder case identifying potential jurors as Jewish or Black. District Attorney Pamela Price announced the sweeping review Monday outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Price said U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria had directed her office last month to review all 35 of its death penalty cases, possibly dating back to 1977, "for any potential signs of prosecutorial misconduct in the form of the exclusion of jurors based solely on race." And th ..read more

City officials have asked PG&E to include Berkeley in its plans to underground 10,000 miles of power lines in areas facing the highest fire danger. Officials sent a letter to PG&E last week to alert them of the request, which dates back to a January vote by the Berkeley City Council. An undergrounding project in Berkeley's "Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone" — on Panoramic Hill as well as in the northeast section of the Berkeley Hills — would help reduce wildfire risk and assist residents in evacuating in an emergency, officials wrote. A California Senate bill approved in 2 ..read more

A Berkeley man has been charged with three felonies in connection with a sex crime on an 11-year-old girl at an all-ages music venue earlier this month, court papers show. The girl was with friends at 924 Gilman on April 5 when she noticed a man, later identified as 41-year-old Kevin Luzzi, who was "fixated on her" and staring at her from across the room, witnesses told Berkeley police. The stranger "worked his way across the room and stood next to her," police wrote in court papers. The girl repeatedly tried to move away but the man "continued to press against her." The girl told a friend wha ..read more

Berkeley police are investigating a report of a double catalytic converter theft in southwest Berkeley on Saturday morning. One person told police the culprits fired a gun when they were interrupted, but officers had found no evidence of a shooting as of publication time. Just before 6 a.m. Saturday, residents on Mathews Street near Ward Street called Berkeley police to report suspicious activity on the block. Residents heard the sound of cutting tools and at least one person thought they heard a gunshot. Read more about crime in Berkeley. One witness told police the group had shone a light in ..read more

Two suspects from Wednesday's laptop robbery near UC Berkeley were arrested in Emeryville hours later after committing a crime in that city, according to police and court records. Emeryville police stopped the pair after a shoplifting report at Marshalls on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. The incident began in Berkeley at about 12:40 p.m. when two people got out of a Jeep and approached patrons at Caffè Strada, at 2300 College Ave. (and Bancroft Way). One of them "began stealing multiple laptops from several tables," Berkeley police said. Patrons fought back and prevented him from getti ..read more

The driver who hit a cyclist in Berkeley on Sunday, resulting in major injuries to the cyclist's leg, was a teenager with an arrest warrant, records show. Torin Whittle, 19, was arrested in connection with the warrant, which stemmed from a vehicle theft investigation, according to records online. He was released that day on a citation. Berkeley police, who originally said there had been no arrest Sunday, have said little about the crash. They confirmed this week that it remains under investigation. There has been no update on the cyclist's condition. Whittle's arrest was unrelated to the crash ..read more

Berkeley police are investigating a reported strong-arm robbery at a popular cafe near UC Berkeley on Wednesday. Information was preliminary, but police were alerted at 12:40 p.m. about a laptop robbery at Caffè Strada, at 2300 College Ave. (and Bancroft Way). The robbery crew left in what was reported to be a gray Jeep or SUV with a license plate that had been reported stolen. This story will be updated when additional details become available. There have been about 65 other robberies reported in the blocks surrounding UC Berkeley in the past six months, along with six robberies on campus, ac ..read more