Antioch Police responded to a report of a carjacking 11:06 am Wednesday which led police on a mutli-city pursuit before a subject took multiple hostages at the Arco Gas Station on L Street and Buchanan.
The incident began after police located an unreported stolen vehicle out of Walnut Creek which crashed in front of Mikes Auto Body on W. 10th Street in Antioch. The suspect, later identified as a 35-year-old male from Newark with a criminal history, fled the vehicle and carjacked a vehicle in the parking lot of Mikes Auto Body.
The suspect then drove to Concord, at that point, Antioch Police were tracking the vehicle through the stolen parties phone. The subject then drove back to Antioch where the he was located after stealing another vehicle before heading to Balfour Road in Brentwood.
While on the Brentwood-Antioch border, the suspect drives on the wrong side of the road and throws the phone out of the vehicle before getting onto Highway 4 and heads back to Pittsburg.
At that point, Pittsburg Police had spiked the vehicle when it gets onto Highway 4 and heads back to Antioch where it gets off on the L Street exit.
The suspect then tries to carjack another vehicle with a woman inside when a CHP motorcycle officer approaches where the suspect points a gun at the officer. In response, the officer fires a shot which misses. The suspect then goes into the Arco Gas Station where he takes the owner and employee hostage
Around 2:30 pm, one of the hostages was released unharmed.
By 3:30 pm, the incident ended with the suspect coming out with his hands up and was detained without incident.
During a 5:20 pm press conference, Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando stated he pleased with the outcome and thanked the following agencies for a team effort:
- California Highway Patrol
- Contra Costa County Sheriffs Office
- Pittsburg Police Department
- Brentwood Police Department
- Concord Police Department,
- Oakley Police Department,
- Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office
- Contra Costa County Fire Protection District
- American Medical Response
“I want to thank all Antioch Police Department staff and the allied jurisdictions for their assistance and professionalism in helping us bring this to a peaceful resolution. There is a lot more work to be done, with multiple crime scenes to process. I am extremely pleased with the outcome of how this situation ended,” said Cantando.
According to Sergeant Tom Furhmann, police will not be releasing the subjects name or photo at this time as they are actively investigating not only today’s incident, but other related crimes.
“We do not want to jeopardize the credibility of any part of this investigation, by releasing information prematurely. No further information will be released at this time,” said Furhmann.
During the incident, Antioch Police blocked off Buchanan Road at Del Oro Cir, L Street at Highway 4, Fitzuren at Contra Loma and eventually cleared the parking lots within view of the Arco station.
We will continue to update as information is released.
