Suspect in Berkeley Double Shooting Arrested

BERKELEY, CA - A suspect in a double shooting in south Berkeley last month was arrested on Tuesday after an automated license plate reader tracked him to a Denny's restaurant parking lot near Sacramento, Berkeley police said today.

The alleged shooter, identified as 44-year-old Anthony Burton of Berkeley, was found sleeping in his car there at about 3:30 a.m. Burton is accused of a shooting near the corner of Prince and Tremont streets at about 1 a.m. on March 16 that left two victims with what could be permanent injuries.

When police responded to reports of gunfire, they found one man bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds on the doorstep of a nearby home. The man had been shot inside a white 2013 Ford Fusion parked nearby and staggered away. Another victim was also wounded there, a woman who was shot in the head. She was dropped off at a nearby hospital and will likely be permanently disabled. The man will also probably endure long-term medical complications, police said.

Police obtained a license plate number of the suspected shooter and an automated license plate reader alerted Sacramento County sheriff's deputies that Burton's 2008 Mazda 5 was parked at a Denny's in the North Highlands area.

The deputies found Burton asleep in the driver's seat and arrested him on the Berkeley warrant. Berkeley police detectives traveled to Sacramento and brought Burton back to Berkeley, where he remains jailed without bail.

Burton is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday morning, according to jail records.

--Bay City News; Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch