Editorials

Berkeley Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred Saturday night around 8 p.m. at the Exxon gas station at 950 University Ave. 

Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes said a man entered the station and brandished a small semi-automatic handgun at the lone teller and demanded he open the register, which he did. 

The suspect then reached over the counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of money and fled the store on foot. 

Lopes said the suspect was described as a small and thin black male, in his early 20’s, about 5 feet 7 inches, 110 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black-hooded jacket and blue jeans. 

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A man was attacked with a knife and another was knocked unconscious by what Lopes described as “skinheads” early Sunday morning around 1:20 a.m. at a party on the 2400 block of Dwight Way. 

Lopes said that four, young white men with shaved heads – one reportedly with a swastika tattoo on his arm – were being disruptive when the hosts of the party asked them to leave. 

Lopes said the host asked his friend, who is black, to help him get the men out of the house. 

When he did, one of the men punched the African American man while using a racial epithet.  

Lopes said that the four men then jumped the black man and one of them cut him on the forehead, the arms and the hand.  

The host of the party was hit and lost consciousness for a brief period of time. Neither men accepted medical treatment. 

Lopes said one of the men believed to be an assailant is in custody, but he was arrested for public intoxication and has not yet been identified as one of the assailants. 

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The San Pablo Food Mart at the corner of Cedar Street and San Pablo Avenue was robbed by a man who simulated a gun. 

Lopes said that man walked in the store on Sept. 20 around 9 p.m. and acted as if he had a gun in his right coat pocket. 

The cashier, apparently in disbelief, simply stood there, Lopes said.  

Then the suspect said, “Do you want to die?” and reached over the counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of money from the open register. 

The suspect is described as a black male in his mid 30’s, about 5 feet 11 inches, 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark blue knit cap, a gray jacket and blue jeans. 

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The Enterprise Rent-A-Car store at 3001 Shattuck Ave. was robbed at gunpoint Sept. 20 around 5:30 p.m. 

Lopes said two suspects, one who brandished a small semi-automatic handgun and another who acted as a lookout, forced customers to lay face down on the floor as they robbed the store. 

Lopes said one man held up the store and forced customers to the floor .  

He is described as described as a black male in his mid 30’s, 5 feet 8 inches, about 140 pounds wearing sunglasses, blue jeans, and a blue long-sleeve shirt.  

Another man, described as a black male in his 20’s, 5 feet 7inches, 130 pounds, wearing a tan T-shirt and blue jeans, watched the door. 

Lopes said that there are no suspects. 

— compiled by William Inman