Man Arrested on Suspicion of Hit and Run Driving with a Stolen Car
Photo: Target on Eastshore Highway
BERKELEY — A man who works for Admiral Security Services was arrested on suspicion of hit and run driving with a stolen car. The suspect remains in custody in lieu of $275,000 bond at Santa Rita Jail.
Edwin L. Hood, 36 of San Francisco, was apprehended on February 7th shortly before 8 p.m. Hood was nabbed inside a Target store, located at 1057 Eastshore Highway in Albany.
About one hour earlier, Berkeley police spotted a stolen Lexus near the University of California campus in Berkeley. The officer attempted to stop the car in downtown Berkeley, but the driver fled into oncoming traffic.
The driver, later identified as Hood, crashed into two other vehicles, in addition to ramming into a police car. Police pursued the Lexus southward until the driver turned onto eastbound Interstate 80.
Officers quit chasing the car in the interest of public safety, but they continued following it. However, officers lost sight of the car in heavy freeway traffic.
Soon afterward, Albany police found that car abandoned on Eastshore Highway, which parallels the I-80 freeway. Figuring the suspect might be inside Target, Albany and Berkeley officers searched the store, located and arrested him.
On February 11th, Hood was charged only for hit and run driving, and evading police. Interestingly, the suspect has several prior arrests, previous convictions, and jail sentences. If convicted again, Hood potentially faces an enhanced sentence in state prison.
