Four suspects arrested in Hayward home invasion

Louis LaVenture,
Editor-in-Chief

A bizarre scene unfolded in Hayward on Thursday night that ended with four suspects arrested and booked on suspicion of home invasion, evading officers and assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies.

The Hayward Police Department is still unclear on all of the details, but they believe sometime after 10 p.m. five suspects in a Honda Accord possibly kidnapped a man at Harder Road and Franklin Avenue in South Hayward. HPD haven’t determined if the man was kidnapped or involved in the crime. Then they drove to the Plaza Verde apartment complex on Berry Avenue, less than a quarter mile away, where two men and a woman were in a residence. The two men in the residence were then assaulted by some of the suspects with a gun. Money, electronics, jewelry and a small amount of marijuana were taken from the apartment, according to HPD.

A neighbor heard the disturbance, called 911 and 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, eventually lost control of the car and crashed at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Myrtle Street in North Hayward, according to HPD.

Three male suspects fled the vehicle on foot while two female suspects stayed in the car. Officers were able to detain two of the male suspects, one from Oakland and the other from San Leandro, however the third male is still at large. The two female suspects were from Palo Alto and Redwood City, however HPD has not released any of their names. 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. All three victims at the residence, including the alleged kidnapping victim denied medical attention but are cooperating with the HPD investigation, according to DeCosta. HPD also said that more charges could be filed after further investigation, including kidnapping. DeCosta said that once the District Attorney files official charges against the suspects sometime next week, their identities will be released. All four suspects are currently being held at Santa Rita County Jail in Dublin.