Berkeley police arrested a half-naked man for burglary and attempted rape early Monday after receiving an earlier call about a prowler outside a different residence.
Officers responded to a call in the 2800 block of Wallace St. at 1:35 a.m. about a prowler allegedly lurking outside and peering into the rear window of a teenage girl's bedroom.
While answering that call, officers heard screaming close by.
A woman had awoken next door in the middle of the night to find a naked man inside her bedroom. She began screaming, calling for help, calling for the police. Officers ran over to investigate, and she explained the situation, including that the man was still inside her residence.
When officers walked into the scene, they found the suspect, 39-year-old Nicholas Eugene Wilkins, hiding in a bathtub, naked from the waist down.
Wilkins was arrested for suspicion of attempted burglary, burglary, and attempted rape. He is currently being held in Santa Rita Jail for $125,000, and is set to appear in Alameda County Superior Court on Wednesday.
This isn't Wilkins' first brush with the law, not even his first brush with the Berkeley police. According to Officer Byron White, Wilkins had been arrested just last week after he'd been caught in a similar situation – peeping into someone's window at 1:47 a.m.
Officers found he had a warrant out for his arrest in Contra Costa County for a misdemeanor property charge and booked him.
However, he was released from custody "at some point," leading to this week's most recent incident. White couldn't confirm the details to KCBS Radio, but added that Wilkins' release most likely had something to do with Alameda County's pandemic-related temporary emergency bail system, setting bail for certain offenses at $0.
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