He identified the suspects as 24-year-old Reginald Patillo and 19-year-old Amadi Monroe, both of Berkeley. They were arrested shortly after 10:15 a.m. today.
The robberies all happened this morning, mostly in Oakland. Oakland police have not provided details on the robberies, but Frankel said the two suspects "started early" and "cut quite a swath" with their spree.
He said Oakland police requested shortly after 9:30 a.m. that Berkeley police be on the lookout for a car associated with a robbery spree that happened between 6:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.
At 10:15 a.m., Berkeley police received a phone call from a man Frankel described as "a good Samaritan."
According to Frankel, the man told police that the driver of a 1995 Honda offered to sell him a full tank of gas for only $25, which the man found to be suspicious.
He said the man gave police a good description of the suspects and their vehicle, including their license plate number.
Frankel said Berkeley police "flooded the area" where the suspects were last seen and soon spotted their car driving north on San Pablo Avenue from Parker Street.
Monroe was driving the car and was arrested at Dwight Way and San Pablo when officers stopped the vehicle there, Frankel said.
He said Patillo, who was in the front passenger seat, ran from the car but was caught and arrested a block away, near the intersection of Parker and San Pablo.