ALAMEDA — Three men have been arrested and charged in the robberies last December of eight people inside their separate apartments at a converted Victorian home, according to authorities and court records.
The suspects, who were arrested Tuesday, were each charged Thursday for their alleged involvement with two counts of assault with a firearm, kidnapping to commit robbery, home invasion robbery in concert, false imprisonment by violence, first degree residential burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm. They were scheduled to be arraigned Friday and were being held without bail.
A 24-year-old suspect was arrested in San Francisco, a 27-year-old suspect was arrested in Oakland, and a 28-year-old suspect was arrested in Fairfield.
According to authorities, the incident began just before 8 p.m. Dec. 6, when three of the victims who work at a cannabis cultivation business in Oakland were followed by the suspects to their residences at a converted Victorian home in the 1400 block of Benton Street. Each of the two levels has an apartment and there is an accessory dwelling unit in the yard, authorities said. The victims range in age from 34 to 66.
Donning masks and pistols, the suspects kicked in the door of the outside residence, pistol-whipped and bound the man living there before robbing him of cash and other items, the documents say. It was not clear if the man was one of those followed.
The suspects then forcibly took the man to the upper level unit, where they forced entry and encountered other victims who had items taken from them. One of them was also pistol-whipped.
While one suspect guarded the victims, the other two went to the lower level, forced their way inside and, at gunpoint, robbed those inside of cash and personal belongings, the documents say.
After ransacking all three units, the suspects fled in a black Mercedes sedan, police said.
Alameda detectives were able to retrieve video showing the Mercedes following the victims from Oakland, the documents say. They also were able to retrieve mobile phone data and develop other information that helped identify the suspects, who police say know each other. The Mercedes was also recovered a few days later and clothing belonging to one of the suspects was found inside the trunk.
On Tuesday, Alameda police, along with U.S. Marshals, conducted arrest operations and captured all three.
A firearm was recovered at the San Francisco arrest site after it was detected by an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office K-9. The 24-year-old suspect who lived there was charged separately with an additional count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
At the Fairfield arrest site where the 28-year-old man was living, police recovered six pounds of marijuana. According to court documents, he admitted selling marijuana but denied knowing the other suspects or being involved in the Alameda robberies. He was charged separately with sales or transportation of marijuana.
The other two suspects declined to talk to investigators.