One of two suspects wanted in what are believed to be a pair of connected, violent daylight robberies in Oakland and Richmond on February 10, was arrested after an all-points bulletin went out — and he was likely trying to flee the state.
The suspect, who has not yet been named, was wanted in connection with a brazen afternoon armed robbery in Oakland's Dimond District — in which two men approached a victim who was in his driveway washing his car, held a gun to his head, and stole his cellphone, watch, and some jewelry — as captured on Ring video seen below. As the victim's uncle, Freddy Rojas, tells KPIX, “They told him to be quiet or they were going to shoot him.”
Rojas adds that the neighborhood has been on edge about armed robberies for months, and that is why he had the cameras installed.
That incident, on Damuth Street in Oakland, happened around 1:30 p.m. on February 10.
The suspect seen with long dreads is then believed to have gone north to Richmond, where they allegedly approached and robbed another victim on the street around 5 p.m. In that incident, the victim was walking alone on San Pablo Avenue near Clinton Avenue, and as KTVU reports, the suspect "exchanged pleasantries" with the victim before pulling out a gun and demanding his cash and belongings. The victim complied and was not injured.
As the Chronicle reports, the victim reportedly shaved off his dreads and fled the Bay Area, and was arrested in recent days by California Highway Patrol officers in Los Banos, a small town of I-5, west of Merced. According to authorities, the suspect admitted his role in the robberies, though it's unclear when and where he made that confession. Oakland police have declined to identify the suspect or provide any further details.
The second suspect in the Oakland robbery remains at large.
The Oakland robbery came three weeks after a woman's doorbell camera captured a violent nighttime robbery, on her doorstep as she was coming home in Oakland's Eastmont Hills neighborhood. And a month after the New Year's Eve laptop robbery in Oakland's Glenview neighborhood that ended with the death of the robbery victim, 34-year-old Shuo Zeng. Two convicted felons were arrested in that incident and charged with murder and involuntary manslaughter, respectively.