Photo: Armani D. Phillips
FREMONT — A police SWAT team arrested a man on probation suspected of committing at least five more crimes. They recovered evidence including a gun and stolen items when they nabbed the suspect last week.
Multiple units responded to serve an arrest warrant on July 20. The suspect has a history of weapons-related arrests and police deemed him dangerous.
His arrest follows an investigation of two vehicle burglaries, aided by an automated license plate reader. The burglaries occurred July 9 in the parking lot of City Sports Club, located at 39153 Farwell Drive.
Police obtained video surveillance evidence from City Sports. The video shows a man breaking into cars and stealing items. These included a wallet, bank cards and a backpack containing a laptop computer.
Unfortunately, only the make and model of the thief’s Volvo was clearly visible, but not the license plate number. So, Fremont detectives reviewed data recorded by nearby license plate readers to identify the getaway car.
A camera located on Mowry Avenue near the entrance to Freeway 880 captured an image of the suspected thief’s Volvo.
Upon further investigation, detectives determined the name and address of the registered owner of the Volvo. In addition, the owner was on probation and subject to search.
Authorities obtained a warrant to search a Hayward residence, where police contacted 21-year-old Armani D. Phillips. When the suspect saw officers, he attempted to flee by ramming his car into police cars.
Police obtained evidence linking Phillips to five vehicle burglaries. Police also found a stolen gun inside his car. In addition, Phillips is a suspect in other crimes.
Subsequently, police arrested Phillips and booked him at Santa Rita Jail on July 20. His probation was revoked on July 24. Phillips faces a long list of new weapons-related charges, including burglary and receiving stolen property.
