January Crime Briefs from the Albany Police Department

On Jan. 20 at 9 a.m. near Cornell and Brighton avenues, three workers at a construction site were approached by a man in his 20s or early 30s who brandished a weapon and demanded wallets and cell phones from the victims. He ordered them to lie face down on the ground as he left. The man, who had a medium build and was wearing a brown jacket, blue jeans and a beanie, may have been seen before the crime driving a blue or purple Oldsmobile sedan. Detectives followed a GPS signal from one of the phones into San Leandro, but could not pinpoint the phone's location. The case remains under investigation.

On Jan. 20 at 9 a.m., a male was riding his bike in the 600 to 700 blocks of Masonic Avenue, along the Ohlone Greenway, when he passed three males in the grass. One of them pushed the cyclist from his bike and began to punch him. The others demanded his property and removed a black bag from his bike. The three fled on foot. They were described as 17 to 25 years old, and 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8 inches tall. They were all wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hoods pulled over their heads.

On Jan. 23 at 1:05 a.m. in the 800 block of San Pablo Avenue, a man with a semi-automatic handgun approached a victim and ordered the victim to get on the ground. He held a gun to the back of victim's head, and took a gold neck chain, cell phone, wallet and its contents. The robber was seen entering the passenger side of a waiting dark-colored sedan with tinted windows, which drove west on Solano Avenue. The robber is described as a man in his mid-20s with a medium height and build, a bald head and wearing dark clothing. The case remains under investigation.

ARRESTS

On Jan. 6 at 7:25 p.m., Albany Police were called about a man who was stealing electric toothbrushes from . Officers spoke with the man and found him in possession of two electric toothbrushes, which he had hidden. Police said they also found evidence connecting the man with return fraud; authorities said he would return items for money at stores, and use the identification of others when making the returns. The man, identified as Roosevelt Green Jr., was arrested by police on suspicion of burglary and identity theft. Green, 49, of Oakland, was charged by the district attorney's office with one count of burglary.

On Jan. 10 at 12:29 p.m., a man and woman were seen stealing alcohol from Store staff called Albany Police and officers found two people matching the thieves' descriptions not far from the store. Police said one of the two dropped a bottle of alcohol as officers approached, and the other was found carrying alcohol. Both were identified by store staff, as was the alcohol. Edward Luis Perry, 35, of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and in connection with the possession of an 11-inch "Billy" club. Niesah Vinetha Gibbs, 32, of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of burglary. Perry was charged by the district attorney's office with theft, possessing a dangerous weapon and for a felony probation violation. Gibbs was charged with one count of theft with prior offenses.

On Jan. 11, a 77-year-old woman reported that her credit card was used at the to make a large purchase. Police determined that the victim had left her card at a local mechanic’s shop after paying for service on her car. An employee of the business took the card and went to Target, where he made the purchase. Detectives arrested Jose Louis Serrano that day on suspicion of fraudulent use of an access card, identity theft and burglary. Serrano, 22, of Richmond, was on probation at the time of his arrest. He was charged by the district attorney's office with two counts of fraudulent use of an access card, one count of identity theft and a probation violation.

The received a call on Jan. 13 at 9:39 p.m. that a man was trying to break into newspaper racks at Solano and Cornell avenues. Officers found the man in possession of "slugs," which are used to defeat coin-operated machines, as well as pry tools and more than $50 in quarters. The man gave officers a fake name, but police later identified him as Kao Chiew Saechao, 36, of Oakland. Police said he was on probation and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Saechao was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, possession of burglary tools, possession of slugs, false impersonation, probation violation and the arrest warrant. The district attorney's office revoked his probation and returned him to custody in lieu of charging him with the other crimes.

On Jan. 21 at 7:12 p.m., an officer spotted two men pulling a motorcycle though the Target parking lot. The officer recognized the motorcycle as having been in the bed of a nearby truck, which had been in the lot for more than a day. The men fled when the officer tried to speak with them; they were found by Albany police, hiding in a vehicle in Berkeley, in possession of a stereo component taken from a recently burlgarized vehicle. The men were arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft in connection with the motorcycle, conspiracy, possession of stolen property, burglary and possession of burglary tools. They were identified as Jose Antonio Ramos, 19, of Hayward, and Rafael Alfredo Gamaz, 21, of Oakland. Both were charged by the district attorney's office with one count of vehicle theft and possession of stolen property.

On Jan. 25, an Albany resident surrendered to police after a warrant was issued for his arrest for a 2008 residential burglary in Albany. Scylore Emmanuel Miles was wanted by police after a fingerprint recovered at a burglarized home was found, after analysis, to match his. Due to a backlog of cases at the county crime lab, the comparison was not made until recently. Miles was charged by the Alameda County Office of the District Attorney with one count of burglary.

On Jan. 27, an Albany police officer arrested three Pinole men during a traffic stop after asking them about a broken brake light. During the stop, the officer said the men seemed nervous, and he later discovered them to be in possession of vehicle parts and tools that were traced back to a burglary that had just occurred in Berkeley. The three were arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property and criminal conspiracy. They were identified as Scott Bryan Ellis, 49; Rick Martell Nelson, 49; and Clinton Ray Nelson, 39. The district attorney's office charged them with one count each of possession of stolen property.

JANUARY CRIME WRAP-UP

• 83 arrests were made in January
• 73 of these were adults and 10 were juveniles
• 19 involved driving under the influence
• 12 were for drug- or alcohol-related offenses
• The others were for a variety of criminal offenses committed in Albany or based on arrest warrants for crimes committed in other cities

BY THE NUMBERS

• Robberies: 4
• Auto burglaries: 9
• Commercial burglaries: 4
• Residential burglaries: 4
• Vehicles reported stolen: 7

Everybody makes mistakes ... ! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give editor Emilie Raguso a call at 510-459-8325 or shoot her an e-mail at emilier@patch.com.