*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***

Contact: Officer Joe Okies  #71
                 BPD Public Information Officer
                 (510) 981- 5752

Oakland Police Arrest of “Waistband Bandit” Helps Close Eight Berkeley Robberies  

Berkeley, California (Tuesday August 23, 2005) – Last week Oakland Police arrested Klaus Parks, a  30-year-old Oakland resident in connection with a series of armed robberies throughout the East Bay, including Berkeley, Walnut Creek, and Lafayette.

Parks would typically patronize the businesses shortly before closing and loiter around the premises as employees
prepared to close. Parks would then approach the register, display a handgun in his waistband to the clerk, and
demand money. This consistent M.O. earned Parks the nickname of the “Waistband Bandit”. In addition to their  investigative efforts during this series, Robbery Detectives took a proactive approach by alerting Berkeley
Businesses about the series.
 
During their investigation, Berkeley Robbery Detectives were able to connect a single suspect to all 8 robberies
but had not been able to specifically identify who was responsible. On August 14th Oakland Police arrested Parks in connection with robberies in Orinda, Walnut Creek and Lafayette. This arrest provided Berkeley Investigators
with the break in the case that allowed them to identify Parks as the person who robbed all 8 Berkeley businesses.
 
Yesterday, Berkeley Robbery Detectives submitted their cases to the District Attorney who subsequently filed 8  
counts of robbery against Parks. Robbery Detective Chris Stines said, “The superb police work and collaborative effort put forth by all agencies involved with this serial crime investigation enabled us to successfully identify this violent criminal.”

####