Pinole Armed Robbery Suspect Arrested

PINOLE, CA — Quick thinking and good work by the victims of an armed robbery, and by Pinole Police and San Pablo Police resulted in the arrest of a suspect earlier this week. Willie Johnson, 41, of Richmond, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery and probation violation Wednesday and is being held on $50,000 bail at the Martinez Detention Facility.

Pinole Police say Johnson brandished a gun during the robbery of O'Reilly Auto Parts at 1251 Tara Hills Drive on Monday.

The victim told officers that the suspect stole merchandise from the store and brandished a firearm when he was confronted outside the store. According to the victim, the suspect threatened to shoot a store employee and one other person before fleeing in a silver Hyundai Accent, police said.

One of the victims was able to take a photo of the suspect vehicle, and its license plate number was entered into a national database of watched vehicles, police said. On Wednesday, the suspect car's license plate was captured on an automated license plate reader in San Pablo, according to police.

Shortly afterward, police found the car in the area of Road 20 and 19th Street in San Pablo. They stopped the car, and detectives from Pinole's criminal investigations division came to the scene and identified Johnson as
the driver of the vehicle, police said.

According to police, a victim of the robbery then identified Johnson as the suspect.

— Bay City News contributed to this report; Images via Pinole Police

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