Burglars ram Berkeley CVS, target pharmacy before fleeing
Berkeley has had several other incidents where drivers have rammed their way into businesses for burglary, but for the most part it's rare in town.
A group of people used a truck to ram their way into a Berkeley CVS store on Wednesday morning, then loaded up shopping carts full of products and fled with the goods, authorities report.
The burglary happened at about 5:50 a.m. at the CVS Pharmacy between Vine and Rose streets in North Berkeley before the store opened for the day.
Berkeley police said the group included at least five people who crashed a dark gray pickup truck into the front doors to get inside.
They wore dark clothing and masks to hide their appearance. The burglars all appeared to be male, but the masks made it difficult to know for sure.
The group stole detergents and then hit the pharmacy, ultimately taking "shopping carts worth of items," BPD said.
When officers arrived, the group sped off in the truck and a second vehicle and refused to stop for police.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing.
Berkeley has had several other incidents in recent months where drivers have rammed their way into businesses to burglarize them, police said.
But the tactic is more common in Oakland, where the stores targeted have often been marijuana dispensaries, police said.
There have been more than 1,700 residential and commercial burglaries in Berkeley this year, a 27% decrease from last year's spike, according to BPD's Transparency Hub.
