Feds charge Berkeley man with possessing multiple guns; he allegedly admitted to being driver in May shooting

Reginald Patillo, 38, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

OAKLAND — A Berkeley resident was charged in federal court with possessing three handguns that were reportedly located after police searched his grandmother’s home in connection with a May shooting investigation, court records show.

Reginald Patillo, 38, was charged this month with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a federal offense that carries up to 10 years in prison. On Dec. 10, prosecutors convinced a federal magistrate to order Patillo detained while the case is pending, after arguing in court records that “perpetrators like Reginald Patillo are to blame” for “surging” gun violence in the Bay Area.

In court records, prosecutors allege Patillo admitted to being the driver in a May shooting near San Pablo Park in Berkeley, where someone fired nine shots at a man and woman but didn’t strike anyone. They also allege he battered his ex-girlfriend last September, the day after she gave birth to their child.

After the May shooting, Berkeley police reportedly searched Patillo’s grandmother’s home and found three pistols. In a subsequent jail call, Patillo’s grandmother allegedly scolded him over it.

“You know better than to bring that (expletive) in the house … They didn’t search the car,” she allegedly told him, according to a detention motion filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

When Patillo was arrested Dec. 1 in Vallejo on the federal warrant, police found a loaded pistol in the BMW SUV he was driving, according to the prosecution motion. The next court date has been set for Jan. 13.