2 Arrested in 1970 Slaying of Officer

Two men have been arrested in the 35-year-old killing of the first Berkeley police officer slain in the line of duty, but the Alameda County district attorney’s office said Thursday that charges wouldn’t be filed against one of them, and may not be filed against the other.

“There’s not enough evidence,” said Morris Jacobson, a deputy district attorney.

Police and prosecutors would not confirm published reports that the shooting of Officer Ronald T. Tsukamoto was believed to have been carried out by onetime Black Panther associates bent on raising their stature in the militant group.

Jacobson said charges wouldn’t be filed against Styles Price, 56, a retired high school teacher taken into custody without incident at his home in Oakland about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. Police said Price was the suspected gunman.

The deputy district attorney said a decision hadn’t been made about charges against Don Juan Graphenreed, 56, who was arrested at noon Wednesday at Corcoran State Prison, where he was serving time on a drug charge. Police said Graphenreed was believed to have driven the getaway car.

A third person, thought to have acted as a lookout during the crime, was being sought for questioning, police said. They said that person, whose name was not released, was believed to be out of the country.

Price and Graphenreed were being held without bail at the Berkeley jail Thursday on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but Jacobson said Price probably would be released today and Graphenreed could be returned to Corcoran.

Graphenreed was arrested in the case last year but was returned to Corcoran after prosecutors decided they lacked sufficient evidence at that time to file charges.

Joe Okies, a public information officer for the Berkeley Police Department, said Wednesday’s arrests were the result of witness interviews and evidence gathered “using new technology.” He did not provide any details.

Tsukamoto’s death in August 1970 occurred at a time of rising tensions between police and the Blank Panthers. The rhetoric of “off the pigs” appeared in Panther newspapers, and police conducted regular raids on Panther houses.

But despite published reports that Graphenreed was a former low-level associate of the Black Panthers, David Hilliard, who was once the Panthers’ chief of staff, said neither man was a member of the movement.

Hilliard denied that the Panthers had anything to do with the killing.

Price’s lawyer, William DuBois, said his client’s only connection with the Panthers was that he had once been seen with some members of the group. Price’s son, Sandor Price, 36, said his father had never done anything wrong.

Okies and Jacobson declined to comment Thursday on the reported links.

Police said that, about 1 a.m. the day of the killing, Tsukamoto stopped a motorcyclist for a traffic violation but decided not to issue a citation.

He was chatting amiably with the motorcyclist when they were approached by a man who said a few words and then shot Tsukamoto without warning, detectives said. They said that, as the gunman fled in a car driven by a cohort, the motorcyclist used the radio in Tsukamoto’s patrol car to call for help.

A few weeks after Graphenreed’s arrest and release last year, police arrested twin sisters, saying they had assisted in the killing. Joyce Gaskin and Joy Hall, 53-year-old residents of Oakland, were released without charges a few hours later.

DuBois said police searched Price’s home several months ago but returned everything they had confiscated.

Associated Press contributed to this report.