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The San Francisco Standard
OOakland

UC Berkeley police say campus kidnapping report was a false alarm

  • November 21, 2025

A report of an aggravated assault and kidnapping at UC Berkeley on Tuesday night that prompted an investigation was determined to be a prank, police said.

The UC Berkeley Police Department said a witness had reported seeing “eight to 10 college-age males carry another person and put them into a cargo van.”

On Wednesday, police said the subject of the purported kidnapping came forward and reported that the acts were consensual, and no crime had taken place.

Police had downgraded the incident earlier Wednesday after failing to receive a report of a missing person. They previously said the person thrust into the van did not appear to struggle.

“The witness did not hear any sounds of distress, but did hear giggling and laughing,” the police said.

UC Berkeley police said the case had been closed. 

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