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 November 26^th to December 2^nd.

November 26^th

Vehicle Theft – 1700 block of Arlington Blvd:
A vehicle was stolen by an unidentified suspect sometime overnight. 

Residential Burglary – 1700 block of Liberty St:
An unidentified suspect entered the secured apartment building, then entered a locked storage area by unknown means around 3:00 AM, as recorded on surveillance video, and stole property. 

Petty Theft- 2500 Block of Mira Vista Dr:
At 6:23 PM an officer reports an unknown suspect stole the license plate from the victim’s vehicle.

Shoplift- 2000 El Cerrito Plaza (Ross):
At 7:14 AM an officer reports an unknown suspect filled up a duffle bag with a large quantity of merchandise and fled the store without paying.

Attempt Residential Burglary:
At 4:14 AM, an officer reports an unknown suspect shattered a window of the victim’s residence and pulled on it. The suspect did not make entry into the residence.
 
November 27^th

Petty Theft – 6800 block of Tahoe Pl:
An unidentified suspect entered an unlocked vehicle and stole property between 2:00 PM on 11/23 and 3:00 PM on 11/26. 

Bomb Threat – 7150 Portola Dr (Invictus Academy):
At 8:44 AM school staff heard a voice on their handheld school radios that said “There’s going to be a bomb”.  Officers assisted with a walk through of the campus at the request of staff, and school administrators placed the campus on a “soft lockdown”.  Administrators elected to keep the campus open and notify parents of the lockdown.

Theft by False Pretenses – 10900 San Pablo Ave:
A CSO took a lobby report for the victim, who was swindled out of money by an online dating app cryptocurrency scheme.

Organized Retail Theft– 430 El Cerrito Plaza (Footlocker):
At 1:54 PM five unidentified suspects entered Footlocker together.  Two of the suspects collected merchandise, then all five left together.  The suspects stole the clothing and fled.

Battery on an Officer/Disobeying an Officer- San Pablo Ave/ Cypress Ave:
At 7:59 PM an officer conducted a traffic enforcement stop on a vehicle after observing a vehicle code violation. The officer issued the driver a citation, but she refused to sign the citation. A sergeant responded to the scene and explained the process to the driver and gave her an opportunity to sign the citation. The driver continued to refuse to sign the citation. The driver was advised she would be taken into custody and asked to step out of the vehicle. The driver refused to exit the vehicle. As officers were physically escorting the driver out of the vehicle, she threatened to kick one of the officers and began flailing her arms and legs. During the process, officers suffered minor injuries. The driver was transported to the ECPD for booking. After booking the driver was transported to the Martinez Detention Facility.

Theft by False Pretense- 3000 Block of Yolo Ave:
At 10:45 PM an officer reports the victim was contacted by a subject she believed was her friend via Facebook to send them money. The victim later discovered account did not belong to her friend.

November 28^th

Attempted Stolen Vehicle – 7600 block of Leviston Ave.
At 9:41 AM the victim reports that an unknown suspect entered their unlocked vehicle and damaged the steering column in an attempt to steal the vehicle. 

Battery – Hill St / San Pablo Ave.
At 8:37 PM the victim was assaulted.  The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival.  The victim did not want to press charges against the suspect.

Criminal Threats / False Info to Police – 10636 San Pablo Ave (24hr Fitness).
At 4:17 AM the victim entered the sauna and asked another patron to turn down their music.  The suspect then threatened to assault the victim.  The suspect then provided a false name to the police.  The suspect was arrested on both charges and brought back to ECPD.  The suspect was cited and released from ECPD.

November 29^th

Grand Theft – 1300 block of Contra Costa Dr.
At 1:35 PM the elderly victim was conned out of money after a suspect called her to report the victim’s grandson had been arrested following a traffic collision.
 
Possession of Stolen Property/Trespassing/Warrant Arrest – 2000 block of Junction Ave.
At 1:06 PM a suspect was arrested after he was found squatting in a vacant house.  There was mail found in the house, that did not belong to the suspect.  The suspect also had a warrant for his arrest for burglary from Davis PD.  The suspect was booked at the police station and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility.

Grand Theft – Waldo Ave and San Pablo Ave.
At 3:30PM the suspect engaged in conversation with the victim, hugged her and took a piece of the victim’s jewelry.

Warrant Arrest – San Pablo Ave / Wall Ave.
At 6:47 PM officers responded to a collision.  One of the drivers had a misdemeanor warrant for his arrest.  The driver was arrested and transported to county jail.

Warrant Arrest – S. 55^th St / Potrero Ave.
At 11:51 PM officers conducted a pedestrian stop on a bicyclist.  The subject had a misdemeanor warrant for his arrest.  The subject was issued a citation and release at the scene with a new court date.

November 30^th

Armed Robbery – Ohlone Greenway at Hill St.
At 12:55 PM the victim was approached by two suspects while walking on the Ohlone Greenway.  The suspects punched the victim, threw him to the ground, and held a knife to his back.  The suspects stole the victim’s wallet and fled the scene.
 
Possession of Narcotics – Plaza BART station.
At 9:45 PM officers conducted a pedestrian stop on a subject suspected of stealing items from Ross.  During a probation search of the subject, he was found in possession of suspected methamphetamine.  The subject was issued a citation in the field and released.

Recovered Stolen Vehicle – I-80 Eastbound offramp at Potrero Ave.
At 12:09 AM officers located a stolen vehicle on the offramp.  The vehicle was reported stolen out of Vallejo PD in an armed carjacking.

December 1^st

Vehicle Theft – 11780 San Pablo Ave:
The victim reported to an officer their was stolen sometime overnight. 

Vehicle Burglary – 1700 block of Julian Ct:
An unidentified suspect burglarized a vehicle parked at this location sometime overnight.

Burglary – 1400 block of Vista Rd:
An unidentified suspect unsuccessfully attempted to force entry to the residence at approximately 4:30 AM.  The suspect then entered an unlocked vehicle and stole items from an unlocked shed.

Commercial Burglary- 10636 San Pablo Ave (24 Hour Fitness):
At 8:31 PM an officer reports the victims secured their property in one of the lockers and went to work out. Upon their return they discovered the lock to their locker was cut off and their property was missing. Several of the victim’s credit cards were used fraudulently in another city.

December 2^nd

Grand Theft– 225 El Cerrito Plaza (Trader Joe’s):
At 10:06 AM an officer took a lobby report of a theft of a wallet from the victim’s purse while she was shopping at Trader Joe’s on November 30^th.

Skimming Device – 9950 San Pablo Ave (Chase Bank):
At 12:59 PM Chase Bank located skimming devices on two ATMs after a customer reported wires sticking out.  It was unknown when the ATMs were last serviced or how long ago the skimmers had been in place.