Lafayette Police, CHP Officers Track, Capture Three Men Wanted for Attempted Robbery In Lafayette

Lafayette police and California Highway Patrol officers pursued a carload of suspected armed robbers from Lafayette to Oakland Saturday - arresting three and mounting a widespread neighborhood search for a fourth.

Witnesses are telling Lamorinda Patch that a carload of four men parked behind the Postino Restaurant in Lafayette and that the men got out of the car and "disappeared."  At 11 a.m. four men, all dressed in dark clothing and at least one armed with a gun, gathered outside Novina Fine Jewelry at 3559 Mt. Diablo Blvd., brandished the gun but fled the area when owner Voytek Konopka hit an alarm.

Bystanders reported seeing the men jump back into the car as police were called, and it was quickly spotted by a patrolling Lafayette police car on westbound Highway 24.

Lafayette police, backed by California Highway Patrol officers, followed the car at speeds of 60 mph plus and eventually effected a traffic stop at 18th and Brush St. in Oakland. Officers immediately detained three men and held them at gunpoint while a fourth managed to get away on foot.

Oakland police and additional agencies are launching a search for the fourth man at this time in the area of 18th and Brush.