Suspects arrested in Hayward home invasion

Photo courtesy of HPD

Photo courtesy of HPD

Louis LaVenture,
Editor-in-Chief

Of the five suspects under suspicion of home invasion, evasion of officers and assault with a deadly weapon, four were detained and two were charged with up to seven different crimes.

This bizarre scene unfolded in Hayward on March 24 leaving one suspect still at large and two female suspects’ names and possible charges private, according to the Hayward Police Department. Police identified two of the suspects as Jordan Walker, a 22-year-old Oakland resident and Anthony Gonzalez, a 24-year-old from San Leandro. Walker was charged with seven crimes, and Gonzalez with six, most of which were felonies and included robbery, kidnapping to commit robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and evading officers.

The HPD confirmed that sometime after 10 p.m., five suspects in a Honda Accord kidnapped a man at Harder Road and Franklin Avenue in South Hayward. They then drove to the Plaza Verde apartment complex on Berry Avenue less than a quarter mile away, where two men and a woman were inside a residence. Multiple suspects in the Honda entered the unit with a gun and assaulted the men, taking money, electronics, jewelry and a small amount of marijuana, according to HPD.

A neighbor heard the disturbance and called 911. When HPD arrived on the scene at 11:55 p.m., they saw a Honda Accord with five occupants flee the scene at a high rate of speed. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over but the driver did not yield, and eventually lost control, crashing on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Myrtle Street in North Hayward, according to the Hayward Police Department.

Walker, Gonzalez and the unidentified third male suspect fled the vehicle on foot while the two female suspects stayed in the car. The only information about the two females provided by HPD was their cities of residence, Palo Alto and Redwood City, respectively.

HPD Sgt. Tasha DeCosta said these aren’t usually random acts and they have reason to believe that the residence may have been targeted for drugs.

Officers found two guns in the vehicle and another firearm in a bush near the location where the accident occurred. Two of the recovered firearms were taken from the residence. All three victims at the residence, including the kidnapping victim, denied medical attention but are cooperating with the HPD investigation, according to DeCosta.

All four suspects are currently being held at Santa Rita County Jail in Dublin. Gonzalez will appear at the Hayward Hall of Justice on April 18 at 9 a.m. and Walker will appear in court on April 20 at 9 a.m. According to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, both men will make pleas after they are arraigned and Gonzalez will have a follow up proceeding for a motion to set bail.

Photo courtesy of HPD
Photo courtesy of HPD