The California Highway Patrol arrested a man after he led officers on a chase around the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza on Wednesday night.
Just before 8 p.m., officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling west on Interstate Highway 80, near the bridge’s toll plaza in Oakland, in a bus-only lane, according to CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt.
While the car was pulled to the side of the roadway, one of the passengers fled toward the Caltrans administration building.
Van Eckhardt said that fleeing passenger, identified as Pittsburg resident Joshua Johnson, 19, dropped a semi-automatic pistol near the front of the vehicle.
CHP officers notified the Oakland Police Department and pursued Johnson toward the administration building.
Police located Johnson about 30 minutes later, hiding in a construction area near the west end of the toll plaza, according to Van Eckhardt.
“He was hiding under a forklift,” Van Eckhardt said.
Officers determined that Johnson was wanted for a recent robbery and was also on parole following a previous robbery arrest, Van Eckhardt said.
Johnson was taken into custody without incident and is being held on charges of parole violation, robbery and possession of a deadly weapon, Van Eckhardt said.
No injuries were reported.
The driver and remaining passenger inside the car were cited and later released, he added.
Kristen Peters, Bay City News
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