A second man was arrested in connection with last week's robbery and death of 75-year-old Pak Ho in Oakland's Adams Point neighborhood.
Oakland police said they had arrested 56-year-old Elbert Britton on Friday, and they say that Britton acted as the getaway driver in a March 9 strong-arm robbery in which Ho was shoved to the ground and received head injuries that ultimately proved fatal.
As KTVU reports, Britton was charged on Monday by the Alameda County District Attorney's office with special circumstance murder and robbery.
On the night of March 9, police arrested 26-year-old Teaunte Bailey in connection with the robbery and assault that occurred early that morning. As SFist reported last week, Bailey was a known felon to Oakland police, and he was accused of breaking into a senior living apartment on February 19, and robbing and injuring a 72-year-old victim in that incident.
Ho died from his injuries on March 11, and the case became a homicide.
Witnesses say they saw Bailey run up to Ho while he was on his morning walk, kicking away the cane the man used, punching him and knocking him to the pavement, stealing his wallet and phone. Bailey then allegedly fled to Britton in a waiting car. Police tell KTVU that Britton was in possession of Ho's belongings when he was arrested Friday.
As KPIX reports, Britton has four previous convictions for robbery, and one conviction for residential burglary. He is being arraigned Tuesday on charges of second-degree robbery, first and second-degree burglary, receiving stolen property and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle.
The attack on Ho was the latest in a string of violent assaults on elderly Asian Americans around the Bay Area. And even before this became a homicide, the case made national news last week — and President Joe Biden referred to such attacks in a televised address, calling them "un-American."
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong issued a statement saying of the attack, "The trauma this causes has a ripple effect, on the victim, their family, and the entire community. My officers are dedicated to bringing those involved in this senseless crime and all crimes to justice."
