Two men and a woman were arrested early this morning after they fled from police responding to a robbery in Oakland and led authorities on a high-speed chase to Treasure Island and back, a police spokesman said.
Officers responded to a 1:14 a.m. report of a robbery in progress near the intersection of Jean Street and Santa Clara Avenue, Oakland police Officer Jeff Thomason said.
The car used in the robbery was described as a white, four-door vehicle. A short time later, officers spotted a similar car traveling on 14th Avenue with no license plates and three people inside, Thomason said.
The car drove north and onto Interstate Highway 580, where officers tried to pull it over. The driver failed to yield, and a high-speed pursuit began, Thomason said.
The California Highway Patrol assisted in the chase, which went halfway across the Bay Bridge to Treasure Island, where the white car doubled back toward Oakland, CHP Officer Sam Morgan said. At times, the vehicle was traveling at speeds of more than 100 mph, Morgan said.
The car exited the highway in Oakland, where CHP officers used a “pursuit interception technique” to disable the car in the 2400 block of Highland Avenue, Thomason said.
Two of the occupants, a 21-year-old man and 20-year-old woman, were taken into custody immediately, while the third fled on foot into nearby yards. Police set up a perimeter and eventually arrested the third suspect, a 22-year-old man, according to Thomason.
All three suspects, whose names have not yet been released, were arrested in connection with the earlier robbery and for evading police.
Investigators are looking into whether the suspects are responsible for a string of robberies in recent weeks, Thomason said.
4:24 AM: The driver of a potentially stolen vehicle that led authorities first on a cross-bay car chase and then on a foot pursuit through a neighborhood has been found and is in police custody, an Oakland police spokesman said.
Police initially set up a perimeter in the area of E. 25th Street and Highland Avenue around 1:45 a.m. and the suspect was found shortly after 3 a.m. in that area, Officer J. Moore said.
The driver is being detained for further investigation with two people who were passengers in the vehicle during the car chase throughout Oakland that eventually spanned the San Francisco Bay Bridge, Moore said.
The driver’s appearance is similar to a description of a person wanted for multiple robberies committed in Oakland on Monday night and in the early hours of this morning, Moore said.
The ordeal that led to the pursuit began while police were already trying to uncover who had been committing the rash of robberies through the city, Moore said.
A call came in at 1:14 a.m. reporting a stolen vehicle, and minutes later officers located what was believed to be that stolen vehicle on westbound Interstate Highway 580, Moore said.
Oakland police and California Highway Patrol officers began chasing the vehicle, which briefly crossed the Bay Bridge into San Francisco around 1:30 a.m., Moore said.
The car quickly turned around and went back to Oakland, where CHP officers intercepted it in the area where the suspects were eventually detained, Moore said.
The CHP vehicle used a “pursuit interception technique” maneuver to disable the suspect’s car in the area of E. 25th Street and Highland Avenue shortly before 2 a.m., Moore said.
Two suspects were detained immediately at the scene but the vehicle’s driver fled into the backyards of homes in the surrounding neighborhood, Moore said.
After about an hour and a half of searching, the driver was found and is also being detained, Moore said. No arrests had been made as of 3:45 a.m. pending further investigation, he said.
At least one of the people detained is an Oakland resident, Moore said.
Police now plan to contact witnesses of the robberies to come forward and hopefully identify whether or not the detained persons are responsible for the crimes, Moore said.
Kyveli Diener, Bay City News
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