Three Arrested For Bay Area Restaurant Robbery Spree
BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Three suspects have been arrested for a takeover robbery spree targeting 23 Bay Area restaurants including eight in Berkeley, authorities said.
Berkeley police said Kristoffer Jones, 18, of Albany, and two Oakland residents, 40-year-old Shawan Spragans and 46-year-old Merl Simpson, were arrested in
connection with the robberies that began in early March.
The trio was arrested while allegedly attempting to rob a San Francisco bar on Friday.
Nine of the robberies have been in Berkeley and eateries in San Francisco, San Leandro, Albany, Oakland and Hayward.
Berkeley police called it a "steadily evolving robbery series" in which restaurants were hit after closing time by the same suspects, who had a calm demeanor during the incidents.
After the third Berkeley location was robbed, Berkeley police detectives began working jointly with other local police departments as well as the FBI on the investigation.
It was when the suspects tried to rob a San Francisco bar that was under surveillance by the San Francisco Police Department early Friday morning that arrests were made in the case, police said.
Police are asking anyone who has additional information on the case to call (510) 981-5900.
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