Berkeley Police Arrest Suspect Who Accosted, Chased Child

BERKELEY (CBS SF/BCN) -- Berkeley Police arrested a man Monday afternoon who accosted and chased an 8-year-old girl walking with her father, forcing them to take refuge at a fire station, officers said.

The girl and her father were walking on Ashby Avenue near College Avenue about 3:30 p.m. when the 33-year-old man approached and "started talking to her as if she was his own daughter," police said in an advisory.

When the girl ran away, her father tried to block the suspect, who pursued her east on Ashby, north on Piedmont Avenue and west on Russell Street, where she reached the Fire Station at 2710 Russell St. and was taken inside by firefighters, who notified police.

Officers searched the area and found the man at Claremont Avenue and The Uplands, where he was arrested on suspicion of harassing/annoying a child and willfully causing a child to suffer.

Arresting officers recognized the man from an arrest on May 5 after he "entered the secured playground area of a childcare center and began yelling and threatening to take the children," police said.