Amazon driver carjacked at gunpoint in Berkeley
The driver was on a break when a stranger approached him and displayed a black handgun, according to preliminary reports.
A driver for Amazon was carjacked at gunpoint Friday while he was on his lunch break in the Berkeley Hills, authorities report.
The incident happened just before 12:40 p.m. in the area of Arlington Avenue and San Luis Road, Berkeley police said in response to a Scanner inquiry.
The driver was on his break when a stranger in a ski mask approached him and displayed a black handgun, according to preliminary reports.
The man with the gun demanded the driver's property and the driver complied, handing over his van keys.
The man with the gun took off in the vehicle, a white Ford Transit cargo van, which police found unoccupied in the 1900 block of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, less than a half-mile away, a short time later.
Police investigate the carjacking of an Amazon driver in Berkeley on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023. Ariel Nava Photo
The van was abandoned and packages had been taken from it, police said.
The investigation is ongoing, but police believe the man with the gun may have worked with an accomplice who had a getaway car ready.
No one was hurt in Friday's carjacking, BPD said.
Carjackings and robberies are up significantly in Berkeley this year.
There have been almost 40 carjackings in Berkeley in 2023 compared to 14 over the same period last year.
Robberies overall are up 31% in 2023, from 283 in 2022 to 370 this year, according to the latest available BPD data.
This story was updated shortly after publication to include several additional details.
