Police have arrested two of four suspects allegedly involved in a strong-arm robbery that took place at 11:45 p.m. last Tuesday on Gayley Road near the Haas School of Business.
According to a UCPD crime alert issued Thursday, the victims, a male and female who were both UC Berkeley students, were approached from behind by three male suspects who grabbed and removed the female victim’s backpack and attempted to remove the male victim’s backpack before fleeing the scene of the crime in a green 1994 Ford Explorer.
Berkeley police responded to screams and located the vehicle on University Avenue near Interstate 80, when the vehicle fled to North Oakland and prompted UCPD, Berkeley police and Oakland police to join in pursuit. The pursuit resulted in the arrest of two suspects: Jason Jeong, 18, who was driving the vehicle, as well as an unnamed 17-year-old.
Berkeley police are still searching for two remaining suspects, the first described as a black male, approximately 19 years of age, wearing dark clothing, and the second, a black male also wearing dark clothing.
UCPD reported that none of the victims were injured during the encounter.
The victim’s backpack was recovered, and the vehicle driven by the suspect was towed as evidence. UCPD detectives speculate that the robbery may be linked to previous armed robberies in Oakland and Berkeley, as police retrieved possessions allegedly stolen from other victims.
Contact Lydia Tuan at [email protected]