Berkeley, California (Thursday, November 12, 2020) - On November 11th at 6:54 am, a package deliverer left their car parked on the 1100 block of University Avenue with a club on the steering wheel and the engine running. Shortly thereafter, a suspect came along and drove away in the vehicle—filled with packages.
Because the stolen vehicle still had a club attached to the steering wheel, it became quite a challenge for the suspect to make turns in direction or the other.
As luck might have it, an off-duty firefighter was on his way to work and noticed the stolen vehicle when it was trying to make a “12-point-turn” in the area of Virginia Street and Oxford Street. When the firefighter looked closer, that’s when he noticed that the driver was trying to turn the vehicle with a club still on the steering wheel.
The firefighter called the police about the vehicle and was able to safely follow it until officers were able to stop the vehicle on the 3000 block of MLK Jr Way.
The suspect (a 26-year-old Oakland man) was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, violation of probation and driving with a suspended license.
Case 2020-00051951