Berkeley gunfight suspects headed for court
One of the men said a car crash led to the shoot-out on Adeline Street, police said. No one was hurt but the neighborhood was rattled.
Two men police say shot at each other in Berkeley one morning in December are set to appear in court this week for a significant hearing in the case.
One of the men told police that a car crash weeks earlier had led to the shoot-out Dec. 19, 2024, on Adeline Street south of Fairview Street, according to court papers.
Police say the gunfire investigation turned up several illegal firearms along with various controlled substances packaged for sale.
Authorities say community members "provided valuable information" that helped solve the case.
Video surveillance also captured the shooting, police wrote.
Police say Jerome Sanders had been standing outside 3228 Adeline St. when Jaelin Castille walked up to him that morning at about 9:50.
Both men "fired multiple rounds at each other," striking nearby vehicles as an innocent bystander who could have been hit looked on, police wrote. "This area is a heavily populated, mixed residential and commercial district."
Berkeley police arrived quickly but both shooters had fled, BPD wrote.
A BPD evidence photo of the evidence seized during the arrest of Jerome Sanders, pictured at right in his booking photograph. Sanders also uses the name John, authorities said.
In January, a few weeks after the shooting, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Apprehension Team served a warrant at Sanders' home in Emeryville, arresting him.
During the operation, BPD wrote, detectives from Berkeley recovered an unregistered Mini Draco assault rifle and a Glock pistol, both loaded, along with drugs packaged for sale — cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and heroin — as well as a "significant amount" of cash "in various denominations."
According to BPD, Sanders "admitted to his involvement in the shooting" and said he had the Mini Draco "for protection."
He identified the Glock, which was registered to his son, as the pistol from the Adeline Street shooting, BPD wrote.
A BPD evidence photo of the evidence seized during the arrest of Jaelin Castille, pictured at left in his booking photograph.
Later in the month, police recovered a loaded Glock, which had been modified to be fully automatic, while arresting Castille at his home in Lathrop, according to charging papers.
The U.S. Marshals Service also helped with that arrest.
"During a Mirandized interview, Castille requested an attorney when confronted with evidence pertaining to the shooting investigation," BPD wrote.
After their arrests, the Alameda County DA's office filed a 19-count complaint against both men alleging a long list of gun- and drug-related offenses.
According to charging papers, Sanders, 49, has at least three felony convictions dating back to 1998, for assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession for sale of cocaine base.
Read more about shootings in Berkeley.
The 2013 conviction for assault with a firearm resulted in a prison sentence while the other convictions resulted in probation.
Castille, 25, has one listed felony conviction, for carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle in 2022. He was sentenced to probation.
Both men, who are out of custody, are set to appear in court Friday for a preliminary hearing, where a judge will review key evidence in the case to decide whether it should proceed to trial.
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Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
