Full Notification

The following is a summary of criminal activity in El Cerrito. It does not include all crimes. It also does not include non-criminal events such as missing persons, traffic collisions, non-criminal deaths, non-criminal disputes, nor many other police activities that do not result in arrest.
The following is a summary of criminal activity in El Cerrito from April 2nd to April 8th, 2023.

April 2^nd 
Robbery – 11545 San Pablo Ave (Ross):
At 10:11 AM, an officer reports an unidentified suspect stole $130 worth of jeans and fled without paying.  On the way out the door, he shoved a loss prevention agent out of the way to make his escape.

April 3^rd 
Drunk in Public- 9900 block of San Pablo Ave: 
At 8:10 PM, officers were dispatch to O’Reilly’s for a stolen vehicle that just occurred. Officers located the vehicle unoccupied. During the investigation, officers determined the person attempting to report his vehicle stolen appeared to be intoxicated.  The vehicle was found in a parking lot nearby parked on the curb.  It quickly became obvious that the owner of the vehicle had been operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol and forgot where he parked it.  Since none of the officers observed the subject driving and there were no witnesses that saw him driving, he was placed under arrest for public intoxication, booked at ECPD, and then transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. 

April 4^th 
Strong Armed Robbery/ Conspiracy/ Warrant Arrest – 4010 El Cerrito Plaza (AT&T)
At 11:22AM, officers were dispatched to a strong armed robbery that just occurred inside the store. The first suspect stole items from the store and when confronted by store security, the suspect punched him in the face.  When the security guard attempted to chase after him, a second suspect physically blocked the security guards path. 
Both suspects were arrested at the Plaza BART station, booked at the El Cerrito Police Department and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility.

Shoplifting / Battery – 11545 San Pablo Ave (Ross).
At 9:28PM, the suspect entered the store and started filling a suitcase with items.  The suspect was confronted by loss prevention and escorted out the store.  As the suspect was being escorted out the store, the suspect pushed the loss prevention agent and fled the scene prior to police arrival.

Grand Theft / Vandalism – 5400 block of Hillside Ave.
At 9:14PM, the victim reported the theft of a catalytic converter and the vandalism to a second vehicle in an attempt to steal the catalytic converter.  This took place between 4/3/23 at 8:30PM and 4/4/23 at 6:50AM.

Warrant Arrest – Cutting Blvd / San Pablo Ave.
At 12:53AM, an officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle and arrested the driver for two outstanding warrants out of Solano County.  The driver was issued a citation and released at the scene.

April 5^th 
Battery – 11450 San Pablo Ave (Safeway)
At 9:39AM while an employee from Safeway was picking up trash, the suspect kicked them and fled on a blue bicycle towards the Del Norte BART.

Evading Police Officer – Richmond St at Potrero Ave.
At 1:26PM a police officer located a reported stolen vehicle traveling southbound on Liberty St towards Potrero Ave.  The vehicle fled from officers and eluded capture. 

Auto Burglary – San Pablo Ave at Fairmount Ave.
At 3:05PM the victim was in their vehicle stopped at the intersection when the suspect shattered the rear driver side window and stole their backpack.

Warrant Arrest – Richmond St / Portola Dr.
At 8:09PM, an officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle and arrested the driver for a misdemeanor warrant out of Contra Costa County.  The driver was later transported to county jail.
 
April 6^th 
Petty Theft – 10200 block of San Pablo Ave.
At 8:19AM the suspect took the victim’s wallet and used one of his credit cards at a gas station in El Cerrito.

Attempted Grand Theft – 7800 block of Potrero Ave.
At 8:14PM, officers were dispatched to an attempted catalytic converter theft.  The theft was captured on the victim’s security cameras and occurred on 4/6/23 at 2:09AM.  The two suspects attempted to steal the converter but were defeated by an anti-theft device.
 
April 7^th 
Counterfeit Bills – 670 El Cerrito Plaza (CVS):
At 3:19 PM, an officer reports an unidentified suspect entered the store at 2:14 PM and passed counterfeit bills to successfully reload a gift card.  The bills were not checked for counterfeit at the time of the sale, and were not discovered until later in the day.

April 8^th
Vehicle Theft – 670 El Cerrito Plaza (CVS):
At 7:49 AM, an officer reports the theft of a vehicle between 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM on 4/7.  The vehicle was recovered by Berkeley PD shortly after the report was taken.

Shoplift – 5805 Cutting Blvd (Sketchers Outlet):
At 1:38 PM, an officer took a report of a theft that occurred about an hour earlier.  The store staff saw a subject leaving with a garbage bag and checked the video, which is when they discovered the theft.  The suspect stole $800 worth of shoes and fled on foot. 

Brandishing of Weapon-11565 San Pablo Ave (Walgreens): 
At 10:24 PM, an officer reports the victim confronted the suspect for starting a small fire in front of the business.  When confronted, the suspect brandished a chisel and threatened to harm the victim.