Full Notification

On the evening of June 12, 2017, Officers responded to a call of a suspicious person at the Tot Lot at Mcgee and Hearst Avenues adjacent to the Ohlone Greenway in North Berkeley. The reporting party stated that the subject (later identified as William Turner 36, of Berkeley) had tried to feed an unknown liquid to at least three children (one as young as one year old) without their parent’s consent. Officers made contact with Turner at the scene and after talking to him, became immediately concerned with his unnatural focus on children.

Based on Turner’s actions and the comments he made to officers, he was placed on an emergency psychiatric detention and arrested for Annoying or Harassing a Child under 18 and Possession of Stolen Property.  He later plead guilty to a lesser offense and was released.  As a term of his probation he was given a “stay away order” from all parks and schools in Alameda County. 

Turner was arrested again on September 1, 2017 when a Berkeley Police Officer saw him near Berkeley High School, and Berkeley City College.  Turner has since been released from custody.   

The Berkeley Police Department shares this information in the hopes that families who visit our parks will remain vigilant for William Turner or any other person who may pose a threat to our community.