The Daily Californian » Oxford Street

Several UC Berkeley students and affiliates robbed in campus area last week

Megan Messerly — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:47:25 +0000

Kore Chan/Senior Staff

A UC Berkeley student was robbed at gunpoint near Moffitt Library on Sunday evening.

The incident marks the fourth robbery or attempted robbery to occur on campus or on property close to campus since Thursday.

In the Sunday robbery, a UC Berkeley student was walking west on University Drive about 9:11 p.m. when two males approached him, according to a UCPD crime alert released Monday.

One of the perpetrators walked up to the victim, pointed a black handgun at his chest and demanded his cellphone. Before he could comply, the perpetrator pushed the student to the ground. The student dropped his phone, one of the perpetrators picked it up and the two perpetrators fled north on the west side of Haviland Hall, according to the alert.

The armed robbery was the second of its kind this week, after an incident at the intersection of Berkeley Way and Oxford Street early Thursday morning, according to a UCPD crime alert released Thursday. About 5:30 a.m., an armed person struck a 57-year-old UC Berkeley affiliate. The woman fell to the ground, and the perpetrator took her purse and fled the scene.

Later that evening, a 19-year-old student was robbed in front of Unit 3’s Beverly Cleary residence hall while waiting at the shuttle pickup location on Channing Way, according to a UCPD crime alert released Friday. The perpetrator in this incident also pushed the student to the ground before snatching her cellphone and fleeing the scene.

In a fourth incident this weekend, however, a student successfully resisted an attempted theft.

The student was walking between Dwinelle Hall and the Valley Life Sciences Building just after midnight Saturday when three males approached him, according to a UCPD crime alert released Monday. Two of the men stood in front of and behind the student, one issuing verbal threats while the other grabbed his backpack from behind. The student clenched his backpack and began to yell, after which the men fled the scene.

Immediately after each of the four crimes, UCPD searched the area but was unable to locate the perpetrators.

According to a recent Berkeley Police Department report, 221 robberies have occurred within the city from January to June 2013. The report also noted a 67 percent increase in robberies targeting people with iPhones, smartphones and other small electronic devices in the first six months of 2013 compared with the same months in 2012.

Megan Messerly is a news editor. Contact her at mmesserly@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @meganmesserly.

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Construction begins on UC Berkeley Art Museum

Gladys Rosario — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 06:50:56 +0000

UC Regents/Courtesy

Construction is finally beginning on the new UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, nearly 16 years since the project’s proposal.

BAM/PFA, which was founded in 1963, is currently located on Bancroft Way and will be moving to 2120 Oxford St. in Downtown Berkeley, a block away from the Downtown Berkeley BART station. The center will join a section of Berkeley that already has a reputation for the arts, with institutions including the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.

“I believe we will add a tremendous amount not just to the arts community but to every resident and visitor to downtown,” said Lawrence Rinder, director of BAM/PFA, in an email. “The museum will be a cultural hub, presenting excellent art, film, and performance of just about every imaginable type.”

Some of the early construction now under way includes salvaging reusable material, disconnecting utilities and preparing for the demolition of the nearby parking structure to be closed in the beginning of March.

Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2015, with the center opening to the public by early 2016.

The decision to relocate was prompted by a 1997 engineering survey that found that the current building did not meet seismic standards. To this day, the building has a “poor” rating, according to the BAM/PFA website.

“We’re incredibly excited to get this project under way after such a long time,” said Aimee Chang, director of engagement at BAM/PFA. “It’s a very important kind of museum for the city of Berkeley. I think this museum will really put Berkeley on the map in terms of cutting-edge art.”

The new facility will contain exhibition galleries, a learning center, a participatory art-making studio, a 230-seat theater and a screening room, according to a BAM/PFA press release.

Currently, BAM/PFA annually screens 400 films, hosts 15 exhibitions and provides a venue for public speakers, performers and other programs. All of these activities will continue at the new Downtown facility.

Plans for the center were designed by New York City-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which previously blueprinted the Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Mayela Rodriguez, a co-chair of the BAM/PFA student committee, said moving the museum Downtown may make it more accessible to the Berkeley community as well as entice students who live on the north side of campus to attend more museum events.

The entire project costs $100 million and will be funded by private donations, $95 million of which is already accounted for.

Once the current BAM/PFA center is completely emptied, the old location will continue to be managed by the University of California, which must then decide what to do with it.

Gladys Rosario covers academics and administration. Contact her at grosario@dailycal.org.

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Man robbed at gunpoint north of UC Berkeley campus

Sarah Burns — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:10:40 +0000

A man was robbed at gunpoint north of the UC Berkeley campus early Tuesday morning.

According to a UCPD crime alert sent out Wednesday afternoon, a male victim was talking on his cell phone while walking west on Hearst Avenue just east of Oxford Street at approximately 1:20 a.m. when he was approached from behind by two men.

One of the men pointed a gun at the victim while the other took the victim’s cell phone and “other personal items,” according to the alert.

According to the alert, the two suspects fled northbound on Oxford and neither UCPD nor the Berkeley Police Department were able to locate them in a subsequent search of the area.

The victim was not injured, according to the alert.

View Armed robbery 3.20.12 in a larger map

Sarah Burns is the assistant city news editor.

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Three females grabbed, robbed just west of UC Berkeley campus

Jaehak Yu — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:16:17 +0000

An armed robbery occurred Monday night in Oxford Lane — at the southwest corner of Eucalyptus Grove — involving three men and three female juveniles, according to a UCPD crime alert.

One of the suspects and the victims — three female juveniles unaffiliated with UC Berkeley — made contact initially in the Oxford Lane alleyway where the suspect, riding a bicycle, approached them for a conversation.

That same suspect then left only to return 10 minutes later, at around 8:15 p.m., in a black SUV with two other suspects. The encounter began to turn physical when the male suspects began “grabbing the victims inappropriately,” according to the crime alert.

The three victims attempted to escape but were stopped when the first suspect revealed a handgun and aimed it at the victims. The first suspect then grabbed a bracelet from one of the victim’s arms and attempted to take her phone. A struggle between the two ensued, with the three suspects eventually fleeing the scene in their SUV, going southbound on Oxford Street. None of the victims were injured.

According to Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, spokesperson for the Berkeley Police Department, one of the victims then alerted the department with a 911 call from her cellphone at around 8:19 p.m. She said BPD arrived on the scene promptly at around 8:20 p.m.

A total of five Berkeley police officers and two sergeants were on the scene to take statements and “conducted area checks for the suspects.” Neither the suspects nor their vehicle were found.

The three suspects are still outstanding, according to Kusmiss.

The first suspect was described as a Hispanic male, between 17 and 18 years old, with an average height and build, wearing a gray beanie and black hooded sweatshirt and armed with a handgun.

The second suspect was described as a white or Hispanic male, 18 to 20 years old, with an average height and build, wearing a dark beanie, a white t-shirt and baggy jeans. The third suspect was described in the crime alert as a Hispanic male.

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