Man Sought In Fremont Home-Invasion Killed In SF Robbery: Police

FREMONT, CA — A 21-year-old San Francisco man, who was out of jail on an electronic ankle monitor and wanted in connection with an armed, home-invasion in Fremont and a Union City burglary in May, was shot and killed Thursday as he allegedly attempted to rob an individual near Union Square in San Francisco, authorities said.

Vermond Jones, sought on multiple charges and a "documented" member of the "Fillmore - Knock Out Posse" gang, was one of three suspects linked to a May 5 crime spree that included a break-in at a residence on Laurel Canyon Court in Fremont, where a victim was held at gunpoint, along with a Union City home burglary and a San Francisco robbery, according to the Fremont Police Department.

Another suspect, Tyler Spears, 23 of Antioch, was arrested May 14 in Vallejo by the Fremont police SWAT team. A third suspect, who waited outside the Fremont home in a getaway vehicle, was not identified, officials said.

Following the Tri-Cities crimes, Fremont detectives worked with the San Francisco Police Department and U.S. Marshals to track down Jones, deemed "armed and dangerous" in a felony warrant, who last was known to reside in San Francisco's 10th and Market streets area. Jones was wearing a court-ordered, GPS ankle monitor during the May 5 crimes, but purportedly dismantled it May 14, police said.

San Francisco detectives notified Fremont authorities last week that Jones was killed in a shooting incident near Union Square Thursday as he was attempting to rob a victim, police said. No additional information was available on the case.

In the May 5, Fremont home-invasion, investigators said two males, wearing masks, broke into the home on the 2000 block of Laurel Canyon Court at about 10:30 a.m. through a side garage door. The duo confronted the resident in the master bedroom and forced him — at gunpoint — to lay on the ground, and then ransacked the house and stole jewelry and cash before taking off in a vehicle, which was captured on neighborhood video surveillance.

On the same day, the men also allegedly burglarized a Union City home and committed a "brutal robbery" of a woman in San Francisco, police said.

The Fremont "community camera network," along with physical evidence, led to the identification of Jones and Spears as suspects, police said.

Police said Jones had numerous pending court hearings for suspicion of various crimes including multiple robberies, multiple burglaries, possession of a firearm, grand theft, multiple counts of stolen vehicle possession, false imprisonment, child endangerment and removing his court-ordered electronic-monitoring device.

"It appears that Jones has been arrested for no less than 35 separate charges, and all those cases are still pending," Fremont police said at the time in a May statement. "However, in spite of all of the above, Jones had been released from custody on a GPS ankle monitor while those cases worked their way through the court process. Jones had the GPS ankle monitor on during the above crime spree on May 5th."

During Spears' Vallejo arrest in mid-May for the Fremont crime, he reportedly was found to be in possession of a loaded firearm, allegedly stolen during a Suisun City burglary in January, police said. He was booked at the Alameda County Jail, arraigned May 22 and was released on bail May 27, police said.

While out on bail, Spears was arrested in September by the Antioch Police Department for another alleged, armed home-invasion robbery — this time in Antioch, officials said. He remains in custody in Contra Costa County at the Martinez Detention Facility.

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