Updated Monday, Dec. 5: with news that gun was loaded; hometowns of older subjects.
Four subjects -- two 18-year-olds and two 16-year-olds -- were in custody on suspicion of burglary, resisting arrest and weapons charges after an attempted residential burglary went wrong in Lafayette Friday, touching off a massive police response and multiple phone calls from frantic neighbors.
Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said things kicked off at about 2:25 p.m. when an alert citizen phoned in a report of a suspicious vehicle in the 1400 block of Reliez Valley Road and an alarm sounding at a nearby home.
A Lafayette police officer responded and found the car, a Ford, and detained the driver, finding numerous items allegedly stolen from a Concord residence earlier in the day inside. The Lafayette officer and an off-duty BART police officer who happened to be behind the Ford noted that the driver of the car appeared to be following three subjects walking down the street and moved to intercept them. The trio bolted, breaking through a nearby fence and into a resident's backyard to get away.
The off-duty officer followed the three, locating items they discarded in their haste to get away, including a loaded handgun of unknown type and caliber, Lee said. Canine teams from Concord and the sheriff's office joined in the search for the three outstanding subjects as more police flooded the area. A CHP fixed wing aircraft and East Bay Regional Park District helicopter joined the search from the air.
Lee said that at 3:05 p.m. a resident living on San Reliez Court phoned in to report two subjects hiding in his backyard. Police surrounded the home, warned that a police dog would be unleashed and released the dog when the two refused to come out and one allegedly attempted to run. One of the subjects suffered minor dog bites before he was taken into custody. His companion was arrested without further incident.
At 3:50 p.m. another resident called to report that the fourth suspect, later identified as Roshawn Ragland-Smith, 18, of Oakland, was hiding in his backyard in the 3200 block of Springhill Road. Police went to the residence, surrounded it and arrested Ragland-Smith without incident.
Ragland-Smith was booked for receiving stolen property, burglary, carrying a loaded firearm, conspiracy and resisting arrest. He is currently being held at the main jail in Martinez. His bail is set at $220,000.
A second adult suspect, Edward Moore, is from Vallejo. He was booked for receiving stolen property, burglary and conspiracy. He is currently being held at the main jail in Martinez. His bail is set at $170,000.
The two juvenile subjects were taken to Juvenile Hall. Their names were not given because of their age.
Good job Lafayette PD and assisting agencies on getting four pieces of garbage off the street. Even if it is for three days. I'm sure the people who's property you returned are happy you did the job nobody else wants to do. Thank you to all the Officers and Deputies that risk their lives on a daily basis while some only sit at a desk and constantly complain about you. Thank you to the citizens who don't complain just to complain and support the men and women of Law Enforcement who do the best job they can.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out, because sending in (literally) "ONE HUNDRED" law enforcement personnel, air support, dogs, and the rest, to chase down two otherwise unarmed16 yr. old boys who were suspected of breaking into a home (but hadn't yet?), may not have quite the same ring of heroism that City Mgr. Falk (joined by other law enforcement types posting here) wants to project in his effusive news blast to Lafayetters.
We coincidentally live in the general area being robbed. I was able to contact my daughter who was heading out, she confirmed the heavy police presence at Springhill School in Lafayette...was able to steer clear. LOVE Twitter for situations like this! Thanks Patch
Yikes, Chris. I'm not going to put hunger together with this robbery but that is a grand statement that I'm surprised to hear from you.
Just to head you off a little: the gun involved in this case was a loaded revolver, apparently stolen during an earlier incident. Police are not releasing too much information on it as they are working to detail its chain of ownership. Of course no one knew how old they were prior to their capture. At most, we figure there were about 25 police officers involved in Friday's incident. Three canine units were on scene or en route and only one was called on to corral the last subject. Hope this helps.
From USA Today: "With 1 in 4 children under the age of 18 in the U.S. going to bed hungry each night, hunger is an issue that we can't afford to ignore. But did you know that an empty belly isn't the only way to define it? Malnutrition is another side to the complex issue of hunger with potentially long-lasting implications, as research shows that poor nutrient diets impacts a child's school performance and their overall cognitive development." Not all hungry people steal, but there are definitely young people whose families don't have enough money to feed them well in America.
That is, at the end of the day, what makes your local news "blog" a great value to the Community. True, you take the good with the bad, but at least readers get a shot at considering a wide range of view points. To your great credit, you foster that healthy, if not essential, "town hall" format, since it is entirely lacking in most other aspects of or flailing democracy. L-
Oh, hell. This is why I don't like to delete comments. A poster asked me to take hers down 'cause it was WAY off the mark and I obliged, but in the process I scragged the one below it -- which was yours. Can't remember what it said but wanted to let you know it was unintentional. Ed.