'Like a horror movie.' Man following UC Berkeley student scales apartment complex gate

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Set us as preferred As a UC Berkeley student rushes to enter her apartment complex at night, a large, unkempt man trails closely behind her, scaling the locked gate with ease before pulling a long, pointed object from his pocket and following her inside.The chilling encounter was captured in a surveillance camera recording that has racked up more than 2.3 million views on social media.It’s a moment that Cal junior Eden Winograd says replays frequently in her mind, even now that the suspected trespasser — who has an extensive criminal record including a June arrest on UC Berkeley’s campus — is in custody.

In the Sept.15 incident, Winograd said the man, who is believed to be unhoused, had begun following her when she was walking her dog, prompting her to run back to her apartment complex.

She said she had seen him frequently on the university grounds in front of her building and had an alarming encounter when he yelled at her in the street the prior week.But nothing compared to the fear she felt when she looked over her shoulder and saw him climbing over the wall in pursuit.

She rushed into her elevator, terrified by the thought that when the doors reopened he would be standing on the other side, she said.“Those seconds in the elevator felt like hours in the moment,” she said.“And then holding my breath until I was locked in my apartment and just completely breaking down, it felt like a horror movie.”Winograd waited more than an hour for officers with the Berkeley Police Department to respond to her call for help.

Berkeley police said that at the time of her call patrol officers were involved in other high-priority incidents including a domestic violence call and the case of an at-risk missing person.At around 1:30 in the morning, about four hours after the responding officer left, her building security found...