This morning The Oakland Tribune ran a story about a string of laptop and personal electronics robberies taking place on or around the UC Berkeley campus.

One such robber walked up to patrons of an outdoor cafe located across the street from campus, went from table to table and calmly showed a gun to customers, demanding their laptops. Scary.

In other incidents, two teenage boys shot a grad student with a BB gun and attempted to steal his bag. Also, students had their cell phones stolen outside the Unit 1 and Unit 2 dorm complexes at roughly the same time as the thefts at the cafe. The Oakland Tribue spoke to Berkeley Police Department Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, who notes that “People should just be mindful not to resist a robber. Just give your property up.”

Having been a student at UC Berkeley and also having worked for the on-campus computer store, I can tell you that laptop theft is not too uncommon on campus, however most are crimes of opportunity (e.g. an unsecured laptop left in an unlocked room). The Oakland Tribune notes, however, that “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.”

I post this mainly as a reminder to be careful out there, and be alert, especially when hauling around thousands of dollars worth of gadgets!