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# Why was a CHP helicopter circling Berkeley on Friday?
- URL: https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/2026/09/05/crime/why-was-chp-helicopter-circling-berkeley/
- Published: 2026-09-05T01:19:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-05T01:56:45.000Z
- Description: The call began with a brandishing report on the freeway.
- Author: Emilie Raguso
- Tags: Crime

A CHP helicopter hovered over Fourth Street on Friday as authorities briefly searched Berkeley for an armed robbery suspect.

They soon determined they were following the wrong car and called off the search.

Readers alerted The Scanner about the helicopter over Fourth Street near University Avenue shortly before 5 p.m.

**Send [tips and photos](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/tips/) to The Scanner.**

According to CHP Oakland, the agency initially got a call about someone who had brandished a weapon in a vehicle on the freeway.

Authorities believed the driver may have exited the freeway onto Berkeley streets.

As CHP officers were responding, they were notified that the same vehicle may have been tied to an Oakland robbery earlier in the day.

Berkeley officers were advised of the CHP response and conducted an area check around Fourth Street.

A CHP helicopter was asked to help in the search, CHP Oakland said.

Authorities ultimately called off the search when they determined that "it wasn't the right vehicle," the CHP said.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8e/3b/8e3bb516-9b88-46c2-aa85-566ed9c3647c/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-04-at-5.17.48---PM.jpg)

The helicopter's flight path over Berkeley on Friday. [**flightradar24*](https://www.flightradar24.com/?ref=berkeleyscanner.com)

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