Charges filed after Dream Fluff Donuts armed takeover robbery
Authorities say Jacob Hellman and four other people robbed the cashier at Dream Fluff Donuts in Berkeley one morning in November.
A 20-year-old man is facing robbery and kidnapping charges after a takeover robbery at Dream Fluff Donuts in Berkeley last year, court papers show.
According to police, Jacob Hellman and four other people went into Dream Fluff Donuts, at 2637 Ashby Ave., at 6:30 a.m. Nov. 6.
Three of the men had guns, Berkeley police said.
They stole the tip jar and demanded access to the safe while confronting the store clerk via gun, according to BPD.
The clerk, who had tried to flee, told the group there was no safe, police wrote. The robbers forced him to open the cash register so they could take the money inside.
The group left using two cars, an Infiniti and a Charger, heading west on Ashby Avenue, BPD said.
Minutes later, six people in the same kind of cars went into the Chevon gas station just down the road at 2996 Telegraph Ave., police said.
They ran inside and took $1,500 worth of products as well as an employee's bag containing personal items, police said.
Flock cameras in Oakland captured the getaway cars, one of which crashed on International Boulevard at about 7 a.m., police said.
BPD later determined that car, the Infiniti, had been stolen from Pittsburg, according to police.
BPD also determined that the Charger had been reported stolen from Antioch.
As they continued investigating the case, Berkeley robbery detectives identified Jacob Hellman as one of the suspects.
A search warrant at his Antioch home this week turned up evidence linking him to the Dream Fluff robbery, police said in charging papers.
Berkeley police also seized a Glock handgun and a pellet gun during the search of his house, police wrote.
According to BPD, Hellman admitted his involvement in the robbery after being advised of his right to remain silent.
On Thursday, the Alameda County DA's office charged Hellman with the Dream Fluff Donut robbery and kidnapping, in relation to the store clerk, as well as the grand theft at Chevron and receiving stolen property identified as the Dodge Charger, according to court papers.
He was scheduled for arraignment Friday morning.
BPD said they could not share his booking photograph this week due to the ongoing investigation.
