East Bay: Police say mom served as son’s getaway driver after shooting

OAKLEY — An 18-year-old Oakley man suspected of shootings in that city and Antioch has been arrested along with his mother, who authorities said served as his getaway driver after one of the incidents.

Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard said in a statement that police believe the 18-year-old fired shots about 8:35 p.m. Feb. 19 outside a gas station in the 4500 block of Main Street. Officers responded for reports that a man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt was shooting at a vehicle that was fleeing the location.

The shooting left a hole in the vehicle but did not injure the man. Oakley police investigators reviewed security footage, eventually identified the person in the vehicle and talked to him, Beard said.

According to Beard, investigators believe the shooter and the victim stared at each other, which created an altercation. Beard said the suspect then pulled a gun and chased the victim as the victim ran to a vehicle. Beard said that after the suspect fired several rounds, he entered a car driven by somebody else and fled.

Antioch police Lt. Mike Mellone in a statement said the same suspect is suspected of shooting and injuring a person, then carjacking that person’s vehicle at the Twin Creeks Apartments in the 1100 block of James Donlon Boulevard in Antioch. That shooting happened about 11:25 a.m. March 11, he said.

Additional surveillance helped police identify the driver as the shooting suspect’s mom, Beard said.

An Antioch police SWAT team helped Oakley police make the arrest without incident on Wednesday about 5 a.m. They took the shooting suspect and his mother into custody after serving a search warrant in the 1200 block of Quail Valley Run, according to a statement from Beard.

Police arrested the 18-year-old on suspicion of attempted murder; assault with a deadly weapon involving a gun; and shooting into an occupied vehicle, Beard said. Authorities arrested his 45-year-old mother on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact in the Oakley shooting, Beard said.

“Oakley detectives immediately began working with ours to identify and solve these senseless crimes in our respective communities, which is a partnership we enjoy that transcends city borders,” Antioch Police Chief Steven Ford said in a statement. “We came together to affect a swift arrest, which was conducted with the precision and skill of our tactical unit.”