3225 Danville Road
ALAMO – Four suspects were arrested last weekend for a computer laptop robbery in suburban Alamo—a crime that’s becoming alarmingly commonplace at coffeehouses in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The University of California at Berkeley Police Department recently advised students to deter thieves with cable locks—by attaching their laptop computers to fixed objects.
Hotspots for coffeehouse robberies include the cities of Alameda, Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, and other communities, where some victims have been physically assaulted or threatened with violence.
For example, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a strong-armed robbery on November 4 at a coffeehouse in Alamo, an unincorporated community in Contra Costa County—where the crime rate is considered low.
A woman was sitting at a table inside a Starbucks cafe, located at 3225 Danville Road, when three individuals entered—forcibly grabbed her laptop computer, and ran away to a waiting car in an adjacent shopping center parking lot.
The getaway car fled northbound on Danville Road, and sheriff’s deputies broadcast a description of the vehicle on a radio frequency monitored by nearby police departments.
An Orinda police officer soon spotted a car matching the description that was traveling westbound on Highway 24 towards Oakland, and pulled over the driver.
Four individuals inside the car were detained, and later positively identified as suspects. The stolen laptop was found with them, and later returned to the robbery victim.
Two men were arrested Isaiah Taylor,18 of Rancho Cordova, and Nequwan Taylor, 19 of Oakland, each charged with robbery, burglary, and conspiracy to commit a crime. They were both taken to the Martinez Detention Facility, and held in lieu of $220,000 bail.
Two juveniles who were also in the car were arrested and taken to Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall, also located in Martinez.
