BERKELEY – A confrontation over a stolen delivery van ended in the fatal stabbing of a woman earlier this month in Southwest Berkeley, according to authorities.
On the afternoon of Jan. 18, the owner of the vehicle called police to report he had used a previously installed tracking device to locate the van outside a residence in the 1300 block of Russell Street, the Berkeley Police Department said in a news release Wednesday.
The owner told police the van had been stolen while he was delivering packages in Oakland.
Officers arrived to find three people suffering from stab wounds – two men at the intersection of Russell and Acton streets and a woman a block and a half away on Burnett Street. All three were taken to an area hospital, where the woman later died of her injuries.
Police did not identify the woman.
Detectives determined that the owner of the delivery van – identified as Raymond Johnson of Downey, Calif. – found a man and a woman unloading packages from his vehicle and confronted them, Berkeley police Officer Jessica Perry said in an interview.
Johnson stabbed the man, Perry said, adding that the woman intervened and stabbed Johnson, who in turn stabbed her. According to Perry, Johnson pursued the man when he tried to run away, and they both collapsed at the intersection of Russell and Acton streets.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed murder and attempted murder charges against Johnson.
Johnson remains hospitalized and the man he is accused of stabbing is in custody, Perry said.
Check back for updates.