Security guard, four others charged in rape of women
Berkeley CA March 22 2018 Five men have been arrested this week after police got a 911 call early Monday morning from a girl who said she and four other girls had been sexually assaulted in a downtown Berkeley apartment.
Police were called to the 1800 block of Shattuck Avenue, at Hearst Avenue, just after 1:30 a.m. Monday to investigate reports of numerous sexual assaults of minor girls by a group of men, one of whom had a gun. More than a dozen officers responded quickly to the scene. Some spoke to the girls who made the report, while others detained five young men who were still inside the apartment where the sexual assaults had allegedly taken place.
In the subsequent police investigation, detectives determined that five men, ages 19-25, and five girls, ages 14-16, had “met up … to hang out together” in the apartment on Shattuck on Sunday. Police said marijuana and alcohol “were involved.”
“One of the suspects brandished a pistol and took away some of the juveniles’ cell phones,” said BPD Lt. Kevin Schofield, a department spokesman. “The girls reported they were not allowed to leave the apartment. Following this, the girls reported being victims of sexual assault over the course of a few hours.”
A 1:30 a.m. Monday, one of the girls was told to leave the apartment. She left with another girl. Police said they “flagged down a pedestrian on Shattuck Avenue and used his phone to call 911.”
BPD said officers responded and contacted all 10 people who were involved. Five men were arrested and “all five girls were safely removed from the apartment.” A firearm was recovered, Schofield said. Numerous detectives continue to work on the case, and the investigation is ongoing.
The men arrested were identified as Chad Williams, 20, of Berkeley on suspicion of two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a person under 14, and misdemeanor sexual battery; Drevon Clemon, 23, of Mather, California, on suspicion of sexual battery, assault to commit rape, sexual penetration by force or fear, among other crimes; Marquis Joyce, 25, of Oakland on suspicion of lewd and lascivious conduct with a person under 14, assault to commit rape, false imprisonment, sexual battery, being a felon in possession of a firearm and other crimes; Jakari Williams-Compton, a 20-year-old security guard from Oakland, on suspicion of lewd and lascivious conduct with a person under 14; and Maureece Simpkins, 19, of Berkeley on suspicion of two counts of rape, and lewd and lascivious conduct with a person under 14, among other crimes.
All the violations were classified as felonies, in court records online, other than the one misdemeanor noted. Joyce and Simpkins are being held at Santa Rita Jail, while the others remain at Berkeley Jail. Bail amounts vary: Williams’s bail is $210,000; Clemon’s is $150,000; Joyce’s is $120,000; Williams-Compton’s is $100,000; and Simpkins’s is $25,000. Some of the defendants are set for arraignment Wednesday, while the others are set to be arraigned Thursday.
Berkeleyside
