El Cerrito police identify selfie suspect

A robbery suspect in El Cerrito who allegedly snapped selfies with a stolen phone that automatically uploaded to the victim’s cloud storage has been identified as Tasja Dowell, an 18-year-old woman possibly from Richmond, police said Thursday.

She is suspected of punching and robbing an El Cerrito High School student as the student walked east on Central Avenue near Clayton Avenue at 12:42 p.m. on November 5.

Police are on the hunt for Tasja Dowell, 18, of Richmond after police shared the selfies taken on the victim’s phone and asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. The picture of the woman, identified by police Thursday as Tasja Dowell, 18, was later backed up on the victim’s cloud storage.

The selfie was uploaded to the 15-year-old victim’s online cloud storage account, and El Cerrito police tell Fox affiliate KTVU-TV the victim recognized the person as the robber.

Dowell then dragged the unconscious victim “a short distance by her backpack” before fleeing in the getaway vehicle, according to police. The woman in the “selfies”, the victim reported, was her attacker.

When the student refused to give up the belongings, Dowell knocked her to the ground with several punches to the head.

Police say that no one should confront Dowell but that anyone with information about her should call 510-215-4400. He previously held roles as reporter and editor at Bay City News, Napa Valley Register, Garden Island Newspaper in Kaua’i, and the Queens Courier in NY City.