Routine Shoplifting Call Escalates to a Carjacking Chase, 3 Persons Arrested
Photo: Lisa Saefong David A, Correa
FREMONT — A routine shoplifting call escalated fast to a carjacking chase. Police pursuing three shoplifting suspects witnessed one commit the carjacking. Two persons were arrested by Fremont officers, and a third suspect was taken into custody by Oakland PD.
It all started at Dick’s Sporting Goods, located at Pacific Commons Shopping Center. Employees reported two men and one woman for tampering with security sensors in the footwear department on November 13.
Joseph Fuimaono
One of the suspects identified as Joseph A. Fuimaono, 33 of Hayward, walked out the front door. Officers approaching him witnessed a physical confrontation take place inside a car in the parking lot.
Before officers could reach the vehicle, Fuimaono sped away, taking the vehicle’s owner with him. “Having witnessed the carjacking and kidnapping, officers pursued the vehicle,” said Fremont police in a news release.
The victim managed to escape when the carjacker slowed to make a right turn onto Auto Mall Parkway. Officers stopped pursuing the car when the driver began driving the wrong way against traffic.
Nevertheless, officers continued tracking GPS signals from the victim’s phone, left inside the vehicle. Before officers could catch up, the car was abandoned. With help from witnesses, Fuiamono was later located and arrested in Oakland.
The two other suspects were detained and arrested at the store. The second man is David A. Correa, a transient from Fremont. The woman who was arrested is Lisa Saefong, 28 of Richmond.
Fuimaono remains in custody with bail denied, pending a court hearing on January 9. He faces 13 separate charges, including kidnapping for carjacking, and several drug- and weapons-related charges.
Correa is being held without bail because he was already on probation, pending a pretrial hearing on December 6. He is presently charged with identity theft and giving false information to police.
Saefong is charged with a vehicle theft, but she is no longer being held in custody.
