A Berkeley resident was arrested Monday after being cornered by police officers he had been running from in an attempt to resist capture.
Austin White, 37, fled officers after he was identified as the suspect responsible for vandalism and trespassing in Downtown Berkeley, according to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Coats.
At 11:24 a.m., the department received an initial report of vandalism in the 2100 block of Shattuck Avenue, where someone was seen spray painting the 10-foot ventilation shaft at the BART station located on the intersection of Allston and Shattuck avenues, Coats said.
According to Coats, officers identified White as the suspect at the time of the initial report. However, he was not spotted again until 1:50 p.m., when he was seen walking his pit bull dog on Shattuck Avenue.
Coats said that when officers tried to stop White, he fled on foot and ran along University Avenue, where he was eventually cornered in the 2000 block of the street.
“The suspect went into a closed doorway and held himself against the door, threatening to use his dog to attack the officers if they tried to arrest him,” Coats said.
According to Coats, 14 officers were involved in the incident, including two supervisors and two trained negotiators who talked to White and eventually convinced him to surrender.
“We had negotiators on duty, and when they heard about the incident, they chose to use their skill set at the scene and resolve the situation peacefully,” Coats said.
According to Coats, White was arrested at 3 p.m. and charged with refusal to leave private property, defacement with graffiti and resisting an officer.
Coats said that White was booked into the Berkeley Police Department jail, where he was charged and cited with misdemeanor offenses and provided with a court date.
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In NY, once the police started busting minor criminals, the crime rate went way down. The spray-painter of today is the hoodlum of tomorrow. So it’s appropriate to bust their sorry ass and give them a taste of time in the pokey…
14 officers including two negotiators for a misdemeanor arrest. No wonder students are being mugged up on the southside, when you have so many officers chasing a spray painter like he was on the most wanted list.
you just can’t win. taze the guy and kill the dog….everyone gets mad. try to negotiate peacefully, everyone still gets mad. just glad the cops catched the perp….can’t stand the graffiti vandalism.