Berkeley Thefts: Police Make Arrests In 3 Cases

BERKELEY, CA — Berkeley Police arrested three people over the weekend in separate robberies and thefts, one dating back to the middle of the month, police announced on Tuesday. One of the men arrested is a homeless man, while the others are from Richmond and Hayward.

Jeremy Edward Young, 30, of Hayward, was arrested Saturday for allegedly robbing the Touchless Car Wash on June 17. He took a pack of cigarettes and shoved a clerk when an employee tried to stop him. A police officer spotted him at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday while patrolling the area of Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way. When the officers found out that he was on probation, they searched him and found an illegal methamphetamine smoking pipe. Once arrested, Police say that he admitted to earlier robbery.

Joel James Santos, 30, of Richmond, was arrested for allegedly stealing a wallet from a parked car on Saturday and going on a spending spree with a stolen credit card. One of the fraudulent charges was for a local motel room. Police officers went to the motel and waiting for him to return. The stolen wallet was recovered and Santos was arrested.

Lemar Taylor, 53 a local homeless man, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, theft, and probation violation. Officers were called to the 2100 block of Center Street because a man was refusing to leave a restaurant and was swinging an umbrella at store employees. Officers recognized Taylor, who was already wanted for an incident on June 18, when he is accused of stealing a tip jar, "and in the process struck one of the store’s employees by pushing them and throwing a chair and the now emptied tip jar at them," police said in a release. "While fleeing the business, the suspect also threw a glass bottle at a woman who happened to be passing by. When the bottle struck the woman, she dropped her wallet and the suspect was believed to have taken it as well." Taylor was captured on surveillance video from the business.

-Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch