Ignored 911 Call Turns Fatal In Berkeley; Police Busy With Occupy Protest

BERKELEY (KCBS) — Berkeley Police acknowledge they didn’t immediately respond to a call in the hills that would eventually result in a homicide this past Saturday.

Officers were preparing for an Occupy protest headed to UC Berkeley from Oakland and said it didn’t appear to be an emergency.

Neighbors in the area of Grizzly Peak Blvd. and Park Gate Road said that the police response to the call was slow.

KCBS’ Bob Melrose Reports:

Police issued a statement Monday night that said the initial call was for trespassing and that because on-duty officers were being reconfigured for the protest; only emergency calls were to be handled.

Police said they did immediately responded to a 911 call about an assault in the same area that came later that evening, but it was too late.

Peter Cukor, 67, had been beaten to death with a flower pot. The suspect, 23-year-old Daniel Dewitt, was taken into custody and will be arraigned on Wednesday.

His mother Candy said it’s a tragedy.

“Our hearts go out to the other family. It breaks my heart. We’ve all lost in this,” she said.

Dewitt was a football player at Alameda High School and his father was the first African-American City Councilman in the Island City.

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