Crime wave targeting Cal Berkeley students

The Oakland Tribune reports:

University of California, Berkeley, students are being kicked, punched and robbed at gunpoint in an alarming wave of violent crime on and around campus.

Armed robberies on campus and in the nearby neighborhood usually increase at the start of the school year, according to police. But this year, the number of robberies has gone way up since school started in August.

From January through Tuesday, the number of robberies reported directly to UC police nearly doubled — from 12 in 2006 to 22 this year.

In the past month, UC and Berkeley police reported 17 strong-arm robberies in which a weapon or violence was used. And in August, there were 53 armed robberies in all of Berkeley compared with 26 in July, according to Berkeley police.

Crime in Berkeley is the subject of a special City Council meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, said Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who requested the meeting.

In one of the more brazen attacks on students, a man with a gun and duffel bag entered Cafe Strada on Sunday night directly across from campus and collected six laptop computers from students valued at about $8,000. He approached people working at tables, calmly showed his gun and told them to put their computers in the bag. "That was so brazen, it was just amazing," said Mitch Celaya, UC Berkeley assistant chief of police, who added he has never seen anything like it in his 25 years on the force.

I guess when you promote hatred of gun ownership and property rights,criminals get the message that being a "sanctuary" is a place to ply your trade.Great moments in public education.