Crime & Safety

Police Say Alleged Kidnapping, Robbery of Teen May be Linked to Human Sex Trafficking

Although the victim was found in Berkeley, the location of the possible crime is still unclear.

Reports that a teenaged girl was kidnapped and robbed in Oakland and dropped off in Berkeley this morning could be connected to human sex trafficking, an Oakland police spokeswoman said today.

[Related article: Teen Found in Berkeley Says She Was Kidnapped, Robbed in Oakland]
 
Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson offered few details this afternoon but said in a statement that investigators had learned the incident "occurred in another jurisdiction."
 
Watson did not specify where the incident occurred, however, and has not responded to calls requesting further information.
 
The girl was discovered in Berkeley at 5:06 a.m. when police there responded to 911 calls reporting someone yelling for help in the area of Ashby and Piedmont avenues in Berkeley, about two blocks from the Claremont Hotel, Berkeley police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats said.
 
She told investigators that she had been kidnapped in Oakland, robbed and dropped off in Berkeley, and Berkeley police turned over the case to Oakland police, Watson said.

—By Bay City News


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