Police Investigate Recent Rash of Strong-Armed Robberies of Sneakers, Cell Phones & Electronics

Information submitted by San Leandro Police—

Recently, the San Leandro Police Department has investigated several armed and strong-armed robberies that have involved large groups of suspects targeting victims’ cell phones and other electronics as well as high end sneakers.

On Saturday, May 31 around 10:00 p.m., two juvenile victims were at the Bayfair BART Station when they were confronted by a large group of kids, 10-20 years old.  Some of the kids in the large group challenged the victims to a fight and at one point surrounded the two of them.  

A punch was thrown by one of the suspects in the group at which point the victims ran away towards Bayfair Mall where they got separated.  The suspects chased one of the victims through the Bayfair Mall parking lot, across Fairmont Drive, into a parking lot.  

The suspects caught up to one of the victims, knocked him down to the ground and continued punching and kicking him. The suspects then forcibly removed the victim’s Nike shoes from his feet and stole his cell phone.  

Other suspects caught up with the second victim and attempted to assault him a second time, however he was able to run away and notify a San Leandro Police Officer who was in the area.  Those suspects fled the area and have not been identified.

On Monday, June 2nd around 4:00 p.m., two middle school students were walking home in the 2100 block of E. 14th Street when they were confronted by three older teenagers (suspects).  

One of the victims was carrying a shopping bag that contained Nike shoes.  The suspects forcibly grabbed this victim and tried to rip the bag out of his hand.  When this victim tried to hold onto his bag, one of the suspects pulled out a black handgun and “pistol-whipped” him, striking this victim on his face and head.  The force of him being struck with the handgun knocked him to the ground where he temporarily lost consciousness.  

The other victim tried to run away, however the suspects were able to grab him, punch him and knock him to the ground.  The suspects then searched through his pockets and stole his iPhone then forcibly removed his Nike shoes from his feet.  The suspects then fled the area with the stolen items. The victim that was struck with the handgun was taken to an area hospital where he required stitches.

About forty minutes after the assault in the 2100 block of E.14th Street, a San Leandro Police Sergeant saw a disturbance about two blocks north, also on E. 14th Street.  

The Sergeant, along with other officers, detained the parties involved and spoke with independent witnesses in the area.  The Officers learned that two adults and a child were driving into a parking lot when they saw a large group of teenagers blocking the entrance.  When the victims called out to the teenagers, asking them to move, the teenagers responded by yelling obscenities, telling the victims to “go around.”  The adults got out of their car, leaving the 2 year old child in the passenger compartment, and confronted the group of teenagers.  One of the teenagers grabbed a metal chair, raised it above his head and threw it at one of the victims, nearly striking her.  

During this confrontation, one of the victims saw some other teenagers ransacking the passenger compartment of her car, stealing items.  At some point, another teenager got into the driver’s seat, put the car in gear and began driving out of the parking lot.  

The victims yelled out at the teenager, pleading with him to stop because the child was still in the car. The teenager stopped the car which was just prior to the police showing up.  The victim’s computer tablet and iPhone were stolen from inside her car during the incident.  Two of the teenagers were arrested on a variety of charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, car-jacking, kidnapping and child endangerment.  They were subsequently transported to Juvenile Hall.

Lieutenant DeCosta said, “The San Leandro Police Department will continue to maintain high visibility patrolling techniques in an effort to prevent these types of incidents from occurring. The Department is actively investigating all of these incidents in an attempt to identify other suspects involved.”       

Please contact the San Leandro Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division with any information regarding this case at 510-577-3230 or contact the Anonymous Tip Line at 510-577-3278.

Citizens can also send an anonymous tip to San Leandro Police Department by texting the word SLPD and their tip to 847411. Anonymous web tips can be submitted from the Police Department’s website at http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/pd/at.asp