SAN PABLO — Authorities have filed murder charges against a woman after an argument over stolen packages in San Pablo escalated into a vehicular assault and ultimately a homicide case when the victim died from her injuries.
Contra Costa County prosecutors filed murder charges on Friday against a 39-year-old woman, Dene Blakely.
The charges arose from a verbal altercation between Blakely and an unidentified 60-year-old female victim who became involved in a verbal altercation regarding stolen packages, investigators said.
Blakely saw the victim walking in a neighborhood and believed that she recognized the victim as an individual who had stolen one or more packages from Blakely’s residence, according to authorities.
The altercation escalated into a traffic collision involving a vehicle that struck the victim, leaving the 60-year-old woman suffering from major and life-threatening injuries. Police claim Blakely drove the vehicle that collided with the pedestrian victim.
Police responded on Dec. 8 to the 1100 block of Broadway Avenue in San Pablo after reports that a vehicle had collided with a pedestrian victim at that location.
The female pedestrian was transported from that location to a local trauma center.
Police arrested Blakely without incident at the collision location, which is near the intersection of Broadway Avenue and 11th Street in San Pablo. The original charges, filed on Dec. 12, were attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
The victim died from her major injuries on Dec. 23. Prosecutors then amended the charges to include a criminal murder charge.
Blakely was arraigned on Dec. 29 on the amended murder charges. The case remains under investigation.