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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The student was walking on Campanile Way when he was confronted by three males about 12:40 a.m., according to a UCPD crime alert released Monday. A perpetrator moved in front of the student as another perpetrator grabbed his backpack from behind in an attempt to take it. The perpetrator in front verbally threatened the student, who clenched his backpack and began to yell.

The three suspects fled the scene, running east toward the Campanile. The victim, who was uninjured during the encounter, walked home and called UCPD to report the crime.

UCPD searched the area but was unable to locate the suspects.

According to the UCPD crime alert, the suspects are described as:

Suspect No. 1 — A male, possibly Asian, in his late teens or early 20s, 6 feet in height, with a thin build and dark complexion and wearing a red hooded sweatshirt.

Suspect No. 2 — An Asian male in his late teens or early 20s, 5-foot-10 in height, with a thin build and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.

Suspect No. 3 — An unknown race male in his late teens or early 20s, 5-foot-10 in height, with a thin build and wearing dark clothing.

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

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The victim was standing at the shuttle pickup location in front of the residence hall on Channing Way about 7:45 p.m. when she was approached from behind by the perpetrator, according to a UCPD crime alert released Friday. The suspect shoved her and took her cellphone before running west on Channing Way and south on Dana Street.

The victim was not injured during the encounter.

UCPD and Berkeley Police Department searched the area but were unable to locate the perpetrator.

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

A black male, approximately 19 years old, 5-foot-11 in height, weighing about 170 pounds and wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.

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

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About 5:30 a.m., the victim was walking in the area when she was grabbed from behind by the perpetrator, who was armed with a handgun, according to a UCPD crime alert released Thursday. The perpetrator demanded the victim’s property, and although she responded that she didn’t have any money, he struck her, after which she fell to the ground. The perpetrator took her purse and ran west on Center Street.

The victim sustained nonlife-threatening injuries during the encounter and declined to receive any medical treatment at the scene.

BPD and UCPD searched the area but were unable to locate the perpetrator.

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

A black male between 30 and 35 years old, 5-foot-10 in height, weighing about 150 pounds with a thin build, black hair and medium complexion, wearing a black jacket and dark pants.

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

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UCPD/Courtesy

UCPD released a photo Wednesday evening of a man who may be linked to the theft of laptop computers and other personal property on campus.

According to a press release from UCPD, the suspect probably is the individual who has been reported prowling inside buildings on the north side of the UC Berkeley campus on several occasions since early August.

The man in the photograph is described as wandering hallways with his cellphone at his ear, possibly pretending to be engaged in conversation while looking for opportunities to enter unsecured offices and labs, according to the release.

The suspect is described as a man in his late 40s or early 50s, six feet tall, with a thin build and weighing about 160 pounds. He is typically seen wearing a baseball cap, a short-sleeved shirt with a collar and blue jeans.

Those with information about the suspect are asked to contact the UCPD Criminal Investigation Bureau at 510-642-0472 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or 510-642-6760 at all other times.

Chris Yoder covers crime. Contact him at cyoder@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @christiancyoder.

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Kelly Fang/Senior Staff

An electrical wire theft, which UC Berkeley officials believe may be linked to the on-campus explosion, is part of a larger trend of copper thefts on campus and in the city.

Although UCPD is conducting an ongoing investigation of Monday’s theft of high-voltage copper wiring from a campus electrical facility, multiple instances of copper theft — from construction materials, decorative plaques and even toilet flushers — have occurred on campus.

The copper wiring was taken from a facility near the Big C trail, according to a UCPD Daily Activity Bulletin. The incident, however, highlights a prevalence of copper theft at UC Berkeley that, while sporadic, is costly to the campus.

Police are actively investigating the theft but do not have any suspects at this time, UCPD spokesperson Lt. Eric Tejada said.

“We have some leads in the case — there was evidence left behind,” Tejada said. “We are hoping to get some fingerprint or DNA evidence off of it.”

Tejada said that copper theft is something UCPD deals with on a regular basis on campus and that thieves commonly cash in the metal at recycling centers.

On Jan. 20, 2011, a grand theft of 500 pounds of copper wiring from Memorial Stadium while it was still under construction cost the campus $2,000, according to UCPD crime logs.

These thefts are not always crimes of opportunity but are often highly planned, Berkeley Police Department records show.

On Aug. 22, a theft of 30 feet of copper coaxial communication cable from a utility pole in northwest Berkeley interrupted telephone and cable television service to numerous homes in the surrounding area, according to a police alert on the city of Berkeley’s website.

Similar incidents occurred in a nearby city, where witnesses reported seeing a boom-equipped utility truck and workers who were wearing hard hats and orange safety vests and appeared to be doing “legitimate work,” according to the alert.

Thefts of copper increase as the price per pound increases, so because the current price of copper is on the rise, the city and its citizens must be even more vigilant, said BPD spokesperson Officer Jennifer Coats in an email.

As of Thursday evening, the price of high-grade copper is $3.26 per pound, according to NASDAQ’s website. Local metal recycling companies said they typically buy used copper at a price between $1.50 to $3.00 per pound, depending on quality.

Rafael Pinedo of Lakeside Non-ferrous Metals, a metal recycler in Oakland, said nonferrous metals are typically sold to the company at the 100-pound minimum after a screening process and 72-hour wait period.

Local police monitor the sale and purchase of scrap metal in the Bay Area and have a system in place to notify recyclers about stolen metal. Paul Forkash, the founder of Aaron Metals in Oakland, believes that middlemen are available to take the metal to be sold in different regions.

“There are some people who are not permitted, have no business license, that will buy metal off the street and will load up a truck to take it to Southern California or Nevada,” Forkash said. “The material could be very identifiable, but yet it is being transported so far out of the area that (police) would have no way of tracking it.”

Chase Schweitzer covers crime. Contact him at cschweitzer@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @ChaseSchweitz.

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About 11:37 p.m., Caffe Mediterraneum owner Craig Becker confronted a man he saw reaching into the cafe’s tip jar. Becker followed him toward the exit, and a physical confrontation ensued. Becker was kicked by three men and threatened with a handgun.

“We ended up getting into a fistfight,” Becker said. “Some of the customers were helping, and (the suspect) had some friends, and they tipped over a table and stuff, broke some of the marble, broke some dishes and then ran off. Basically, that was it.”

The perpetrators fled south on Telegraph, and moments later, witnesses heard gunshots, according to police. Officers later located a discarded firearm on the 2600 block of Regent Street.

Police were on the scene within minutes. Berkeley Police Department and UCPD detained two of the suspects as they attempted to flee, and officers found the third suspect after searching the area. BPD identified the suspects as Jeremiah Lee, 19, Willie Smith, 18, and Markeise Prince, 19.

“I think the police did a great job,” Becker said. “I was surprised how fast they came.”

Becker suffered a swollen lip and scrapes on his face but sustained no major injuries as a result of the confrontation. He said no one else suffered any major injuries.

Chris Yoder covers crime. Contact him at cyoder@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @christiancyoder.

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On Sept. 4, the Alameda County Superior Court issued a no-bail felony warrant for the arrest of Michael Terrance Jones for the possession of stolen property, according to a press release from UCPD. Six days later, the court issued another felony warrant for his arrest for a burglary in the city of Berkeley, the release says.

Jones is on criminal probation through May 18, 2018, and is ordered to stay five yards from UC Berkeley property, according to the release.

Those with information about Jones’ whereabouts are asked to call 911 or 510-642-3333.

Jones is described as a black male, 5-foot-6 in height, weighing 175 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and a scar on his left cheek.

Sara Grossman is the executive news editor. Contact her at sgrossman@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @saragrossman.

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The incident occurred about 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to a UCPD crime alert released Thursday. UCPD arrived at the scene after receiving a call from a library staff member. The suspect, Joel Gregory Wagner, was sitting at a computer in a public area when police arrived and arrested him. Police believe Wagner, who is not a student at UC Berkeley, may have committed similar acts on campus recently.

Jeremy Gordon is a news editor. Contact him at jgordon@dailycal.org.

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About 7:43 p.m., the victim, who is affiliated with the campus, was walking along the Grinnell Path from Oxford Street while texting on her iPhone, according to a UCPD crime alert released Tuesday. She put the phone in her pocket, and, as she neared the south side of VLSB, she felt someone run into her.

The male perpetrator took the phone from her pocket, knocking her to the ground, and fled the scene. After a male passer-by chased the perpetrator to the south side of Haas Pavilion, he dropped the phone, and the passer-by retrieved it and returned it to the victim.

The victim suffered minor injuries. After searching the scene, UCPD was unable to locate the perpetrator.

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

A black male between 20 and 25 years old, 6 feet in height with a medium build, either short hair or bald, wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt with white or light-colored markings on the front and light-colored jeans.

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

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