Piedmont neighborhood gate foils fleeing carjacking suspects following automated license plate reader alert

By Carlos E. Castañeda

Two people were arrested in Piedmont on Tuesday following a carjacking in Oakland with the help of an automated license plate reader and a neighborhood gate, police said.

The Piedmont Police Department said in a social media post on Thursday that it received an ALPR alert for a stolen vehicle entering the city near Oakland and Olive avenues. The vehicle was a white Mitsubishi sedan that had been carjacked in Oakland earlier Tuesday and was associated with a person reportedly armed with a rifle, police said.

When officers responded to the alert, they saw Oakland Police Department units chasing the suspect car, which was heading east on Oakland Avenue, entering the Piedmont city limits. Police said the pursuit ended after the car crashed into a closed gate at the foot of El Cerrito Avenue adjacent to Piedmont Park’s Witter Field. 

The car was significantly damaged, while the gate was left with minor damage.

The unidentified driver and a woman were arrested at the scene, and officers recovered a rifle, police said.

There was no word on any injuries.