Juvenile Suspect in Shooting Last Month Arrested

PINOLE, CA: Pinole police said Monday that a suspect was arrested on suspicion of shooting a man who was found suffering injuries on Interstate Highway 80 in San Pablo last month. Investigators believe the 19-year-old victim was shot in another location before he was involved in a collision on the highway, police said.

At 8:25 p.m. on Jan. 16, officers were dispatched to the 1500 block of Pinole Valley Road based on reports of a shooting, police said. No victims or suspects were found there. Minutes later, officers learned of a collision along Highway 80 in San Pablo. Police said the driver was suffering gunshot wounds to his upper body and was determined to be the victim from the earlier shooting.

The Richmond resident was in critical condition and was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where he underwent emergency surgery, police said. An investigation later revealed that the shooter was a male juvenile from central Richmond whose motive was robbery, police said.

Surveillance conducted by the Contra Costa County Safe Streets Task Force, which worked in concert with Pinole police on the investigation, was later used to help identify the suspect, police said. A school resource officer spotted the suspect last Tuesday evening at a high school sporting event in Richmond.

The suspect, whose identity is not being released, was arrested and booked into Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall on $2,120,000 bail. Police said he’s suspected of robbery, attempted murder, using a firearm and having gang affiliations. Pinole police announced the arrest a day after a separate exchange of gunfire on Highway 80 in Pinole on Sunday left one victim suffering a gunshot wound, adding to the tally of recent shootings along the stretch of the highway.

By Bay City News