Classrooms in the affected areas were closed and emptied, but most of the building remained open.

Custodial staff members are cleaning up the flooding, and students will be allowed back into the areas by 5 p.m. today, according to Christine Shaff, director of communications for UC Berkeley’s Department of Facilities Services.

Shaff said that although there is ongoing construction in the affected bathroom, it is unrelated to the incident.

The flooding is unlikely to cause water damage, Shaff said.

Contact Madeleine Pauker at mpauker@dailycal.org.

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The outage mainly affected buildings on the northeast part of campus, including North Gate Hall, Cory Hall and the Lawrence Hall of Science.  Power was restored about 30 minutes later, according to Christine Shaff, communications director of the campus’s Facilities Services Department.

A result of an equipment malfunction during a routine switching procedure on the campus’s physical power plant, the outage disturbed classes and midterms in the morning.

UC Berkeley junior Quyen Huynh was taking a Psychology 2 midterm in LeConte Hall when the power went out.

“It was difficult to see. There was one small back up light in the room and that’s about it,” she said in an email. “Students took out their cellphones to try to finish the test. And people around me just left.”

But soon after, the fire alarm in the building went off and students, staff and faculty were forced to evacuate. Many students finished the midterm on the steps in front of LeConte Hall.

Amruta Trivedi is the assistant university news editor. Contact her at atrivedi@dailycal.org.

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At 2:28 p.m., the female student was walking along the first floor of LeConte Hall when the suspect allegedly removed a cellphone from her hand by force while the victim tried holding on to her phone, according to UCPD spokesperson Capt. Margo Bennett. The suspect then left the area, according to police.

The victim was not injured during the encounter. UCPD was alerted of the incident by the victim but was unable to locate the suspect.

The victim activated the GPS on her stolen phone, and it was determined that the cellphone was likely on a BART train due to the device’s rapid movement, according to Bennett. BART Police also assisted in searching for the suspect but were unable to locate him.

“While it is disturbing that this occurred in one of our buildings, one incident cannot be a predictor that other daytime crimes will occur,” Bennett said.

According to the UCPD crime alert, the suspect is described as:

“A Black male, in his late teens or early twenties, dark complexion, approximately 5’ 6” tall, an Afro-style haircut with a flat top, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a white t-shirt underneath and blue jeans.”

Chloe Hunt covers crime. Contact her at cthunt@dailycal.org.

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