Photo: Lamont Lomack
DISCOVERY BAY — An armed man possibly high on illicit drugs terrified customers and employees at a Starbucks coffee shop. A SWAT team responded and arrested the suspect before anyone got hurt during this Monday morning ordeal.
A gunman walked into the Starbucks store at 14804 Highway 4 on January 18 shortly before 6 a.m. Several customers waiting for coffee were jolted awake by the man brandishing a handgun.
All the employees ran out the back door. Customers fled too, but one person ran into a bathroom to hide and locked the door.
Multiple calls were received by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, including a call from the customer hiding inside the bathroom.
Deputies set up a perimeter around the building, where employees were initially believed to be hiding inside a backroom. The man was seen pacing back and forth inside the store.
A SWAT team was organized by deputies with assistance from Antioch police and California Highway Patrol officers. Authorities persistently made announcements for the man to surrender himself.
At 7:04 a.m., the suspect opened the back door and stepped outside, and deputies rushed inside through the front door. He attempted to flee but deputies apprehended him. A loaded handgun was later found left inside the building.
The suspect identified as Lamont D. Lomack, 29 of Hayward, was arrested and transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. He remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Lomack faces multiple weapons-related charges, in addition to false imprisonment by violence, and possession of a controlled substance. He is also charged with violation of parole for a prior kidnapping conviction.
