Berkeley police: Man arrested after threatening toddler at park
Abdurrahman Butler made a hand signal in the shape of a gun and pointed it at the child, saying, "I'm going to kill you," his nanny told Berkeley police.
Police arrested a Berkeley man who threatened a child at a park last week and then ran onto a private school campus to evade capture, authorities report.
The incident began Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 11:20 a.m. at Strawberry Creek Park in West Berkeley when a nanny and her charge, a 2-year-old boy, were in the park.
The nanny, a 60-year-old woman, was watching the boy playing with a toy when a stranger threatened the child, police said in response to a Berkeley Scanner inquiry this week.
According to police, the woman noticed the man watching the child play. Then, she said, he made a hand signal in the shape of a gun and pointed it at the toddler, saying, "I'm going to kill you."
The nanny was able to take a photograph of the man before he left the area, police said. She reported the incident to the Berkeley Police Department.
The next morning, a Berkeley police officer on patrol spotted the man walking in the 1200 block of Addison Street, not far from the park, just before 9:40 a.m., Berkeley police said.
Abdurrahman Butler. BPD
The officer tried to stop the man, BPD said, but he ran away.
Police said the man ran onto a nearby private school campus, where children were present, in the 1300 block of University Avenue.
Officers were then able to detain the man without incident, BPD said.
He was identified as 24-year-old Abdurrahman Butler of Berkeley.
As of this week, Butler is no longer in custody, according to jail records online. Charges have not been filed.
