As reported via our Flash Alert system earlier today, Monday, Pleasant Hill police successfully tracked and arrested a suspect carjacker who allegedly stabbed one victim for his car and who was attempting to steal another when apprehended by officers.
The incident began at 1:09 p.m. when a man identified by police as 36-year-old Andrew Mariani, entered the victim’s car that was stopped in traffic at the intersection of Monument Boulevard and Buskirk Avenue at 1:09 p.m. and demanded that the driver take him home, stabbing the driver in the shoulder when he did not comply.
The suspect fled through the Crossroads Shopping Center in the stolen car and was not immediately located while the victim was transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek where he was treated and later released for a non-life threatening stab wound.
Mariani’s hometown was not provided by police.
Shortly after the carjacking was reported, a citizen from a west Pleasant Hill neighborhood called to report a man abandoning a similar vehicle in that neighborhood. The suspect entered the garage of a nearby residence and confronted the homeowner, demanding their car keys. The second would-be victim fled into their residence and the suspect fled the area on foot. Officers arrived on scene and located the carjacked car where it had been abandoned near Dinosaur Hill park.
Other neighbors reported the suspect entered and exited an additional residence on Pleasant Hill Road near El Rancho Drive. An officer spotted the suspect and a foot pursuit ensued. The suspect entered another residence on El Rancho Drive and temporarily hid inside, according to police. He then exited the residence and attempted to flee, but he was ultimately captured in the 1800 block of Pleasant Hill Road. The suspect was positively identified by the victim and multiple witnesses.
The suspect and one officer sustained minor injuries during this incident. After medical treatment for his injuries, the suspect will be booked into the Martinez Detention Facility in Martinez for carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of burglary and other related charges. The suspect was uncooperative and has not yet been identified.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to contact the Pleasant Hill Police Department Investigations Division at (925) 288-4630.
Saw the police cars racing around but had to come here to figure out what it all meant. Crazy.
Thanks for the alerts