OAKLAND — Two men and a woman have been charged with multiple felonies in connection with last weekend’s robbery of a television station’s reporters and shooting of a guard outside an East Oakland library.
The men, identified as Maurice Turner, 21, and Donald Jeter, 21, of Bay Point, are in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail Wednesday, according to a county records check.
According to probable-cause documents filed with Alameda County Superior Court by Oakland Police Department officers, police responded to a report of a robbery and shooting after a ShotSpotter activation in the 1000 block of 81st Avenue about 4:55 p.m. Sunday.
At the scene outside the 81st Avenue Oakland library branch, officers found Mark Meredith, a security guard licensed to carry a firearm. Meredith, who had been robbed and shot, told officers he had been able to fire back, hitting a suspect and a vehicle.
Moments later, Turner was dropped off at Highland Hospital in Oakland, where he was treated for gunshot wounds. After a robbery victim was able to identify him later, officers arrested Turner on suspicion of armed robbery.
Turner was on probation after November convictions in Contra Costa County for second-degree robbery and assault likely to cause great bodily injury; Jeter was on parole after his July 2015 conviction in Contra Costa for first-degree residential robbery and subsequent prison term, authorities said.
Investigators soon learned that a camera taken during the robbery was at a home in the 5900 block of Tevis Street, and police in marked units began following Jeter after seeing him leave the home in the suspect vehicle. When police tried to stop Jeter, he drove away at high speed before crashing into several vehicles.
Officers later learned Jeter had been involved in a near-collision shortly after the robbery, and had gotten out of his vehicle and fired shots at the other vehicle, whose two occupants were able to identify him later in a lineup.
Police saw Lolita Brinson, 32, leave the Tevis Street residence in another vehicle in an attempt to follow Jeter, but they managed to detain her; the stolen camera was found resting on the rear passenger seat after a search. Brinson was later arrested on suspicion of accessory and possession of stolen property.
The Oakland Police Department announces a total of 3 arrests in connection with the armed robbery of a Bay Area news crew and the shooting of the crew’s security guard (2/24/19). Today, the Alameda County DA’s Office charged all 3 for their involvement in the crimes. pic.twitter.com/SEotlaz73h
— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) February 27, 2019
Staff writer Angela Ruggiero contributed to this report. Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.