Berkeley police investigate 2 laptop grabs in the past week
Laptop grabs, also called snatch-and-grabs, were more common in years past, particularly near the student-heavy neighborhood near UC Berkeley.
Two people grabbed a laptop from a customer at Peet's Coffee in Berkeley's Elmwood neighborhood on Monday evening, authorities report.
It was at least the second report of its kind in Berkeley in the past week, the Berkeley Police Department said in response to a Berkeley Scanner inquiry.
Laptop grabs, also called snatch-and-grabs, were more common in years past, particularly near the student-heavy neighborhood near UC Berkeley.
They have largely tapered off. But these recent reports have community members and police on alert.
A customer from Peet's alerted The Berkeley Scanner to Monday evening's incident at College and Alcatraz avenues just after 5 p.m.
He was outside Peet's when the crime happened and said the culprits tried to grab his computer first.
He resisted, and the pair went into the coffee shop where they took a different person's laptop, he said.
They got into a white 2010-2015 Volvo XC90 with light body damage, he said, and drove south on College Avenue.
The thieves were described as male, 17-20 years old.
The other incident took place one week ago, Feb. 6, at 7:40 p.m. at Sharetea, a boba shop near UC Berkeley, police said.
The shop is located at 2328 Telegraph Ave. just south of campus.
A young woman was sitting at the counter in Sharetea with her laptop open when two people, both male, snatched the computer and ran, police said.
The Berkeley Scanner will share more information if additional details become available.
