Witnesses fleeing the Lafayette Taco Bell at 3501 Mount Diablo Boulevard informed police that a man was inside, holding up the business and that he was believed to have fled in a waiting car.
That car, a Nissan Altima, was reportedly involved in several other armed robberies in Solano and Marin Counties earlier in the day, and it was spotted quickly by responding law enforcement, traveling west on Highway 24 shortly after the holdup was reported at 2:02 p.m.
Motorists said the car was driving normally for a time until several law enforcement vehicles and a police helicopter appeared to be following – and then things got crazy as the driver exited at downtown Orinda and appeared to be heading for El Sobrante.
“I looked up and they were on the wrong side of the road and coming fast,” said Brian Moore. “My first thought was ‘that’s a wreck waiting to happen’ and then the police came into view and I realized what was happening. They crashed a few seconds later into another car…”
The suspects in fact crashed head-on into a civilian vehicle at Camino Pablo and Bear Creek Road in Orinda, police arriving on scene to take what turned out to be three occupants of the Nissan into custody and to tend to the injured. One of the three turned out to be the 7-year-old son of the female driver.
Both suspects, subsequently identified as 24-year-old Jajuan Ojeda of Oakland and 39-year-old Aevra Traylor of Sacramento, were taken to John Muir Hospital for treatment of their injuries. The 7-year-old boy injured in the crash was transported to Children’s Hospital in Oakland. The driver of the car struck by the fleeing robbery vehicle was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Ojeda and Traylor were booked into the Martinez Detention Facility and are facing charges that include robbery, felony evasion, and child endangerment. Both also had multiple warrants for their arrest, according to police.
Police in San Rafael said the pair were arrested after a shoplifting incident at Northgate Mall in their city – Traylor’s son with them at that time and allegedly used to conceal stolen items on his person. Police also recovered a “ghost gun” during their arrest.
Ojeda is currently on a no bail hold for parole violations while Traylor’s bail was set at $410,000.
Although witnesses reported Wednesday’s theft as an “armed robbery” it was not immediately known if anyone actually saw a weapon or if one was found following the the crash.
San Pablo Dam Road was closed between Bear Creek and Tri Lane in El Sobrante while investigators pored over the crash scene.
Well now… that got everyone stirred up.
It was pretty wild.
Countdown to Wild West, Soros and Becton is the Devil comments in three….two….
Didn’t take very long at all.
You know this is got to stop! And when the criminals endanger other good people in public, they need to be doubly charged.
Don’t blame the police for trying to go after a criminal. Not allowing police to chase is what’s happened to Oakland and the criminals know it and Oakland is an absolute danger zone. ( they should put up warning signs as you enter town as public notice. They would so if there was a biohazard, or if a lion escaped from the zoo. The criminals are just as dangerous to us)
Sure Dan, make light of it, but do you really think this is normal/acceptable? Do you remember it being like this 10 years ago? Do you really not think it’s getting worse?
As someone who grew up from 91-09 in Moraga, it has notably gotten worse. The only crime of this nature I can remember is when the world bank (now canyon club) was robbed around 03.
Are you suggesting that World Bank (Moraga Division) had cash in 03? That’s pretty wild speculation. Maybe a bike was stolen there or some pens?
You’re too young to remember the Kish murder.
Moraga’s keystone cops at the time couldn’t solve it, so the DA shoehorned dubious charges against the victim’s own adult son, ruining his life and imposing fresh torment on the victim’s grieving family.
Moraga has barely had an aggressive jaywalker since those days.
I guess also the Scott dileski murder too.
Suburban crimes next to metropolises are on the rise in general.
Good luck out there, it’s all fun and games till it happens to you.
Ah, yes, though technically Lafayette, not Moraga.
The only murder where crown molding was weaponized!
Like “The Game of Clue – Sunset Magazine Edition”
I was held up at gun point in a pharmacy in Lafayette in 91 or 92. My grandmother, from New York, was mugged outside of McCaulous in the early 80’s. Lafayette had bank robberies often in the 90’s. This isn’t entirely new.
The comments about not pursuing are only being made by people thinking about other motorist safety. They aren’t considering all the people threatened at the various robberies and its highly debatable that these individuals were safe law abiding vehicle operators as they traveled through the east bay robbing businesses.
Back in my day son, a man had to answer for the things he done
Tobey Keith
Firestone 11R
Only arrested one this week
Was a police car involved in the crash? KYVU had video.
New station we haven’t heard of? Anyway, we were shown some aerial footage from one of the locals and we could see the two vehicles that hit one another head-on some distance away from the other with an Orinda PD car “kissing” the driver’s side door of the getaway car – a tactic we have seen used to prevent escape. To our knowledge no police cars crashed though there were certainly a lot of them out there yesterday.
That taco bell just put up an ENORMOUS “we accept EBT” flag sign outside about a week ago, perhaps such advertisement attracted the wrong element?
I really do hope the innocent people who were in that car are 100% okay.
“I really do hope the innocent people who were in that car are 100% okay.”
Let’s be clear, you don’t know those people. You don’t know the people in need who benefit from food assistance. Food assistance! You apparently view one as “innocent” without knowing them and another as “wrong element” without knowing them. That is the very definition of prejudice, Mr. or Ms. Anon.
Its a numbers game, my good man or good woman or good non binary.
People using EBT are more likely to be violent criminals than those who arent. Its an unsavory fact, an unhappy truth.
You are more likely to be assaulted at a burger king than at the French Laundry.
You can live a life without what you in this case have chosen to believe is prejudice, but you will likely live a shorter life for it.
Don’t be so sure- I’ve heard TFL gets wild on Saturday amuse-bouche nights.
I will try to live MY life interacting with actual individuals rather than probabilistic constructs of same. Your “numbers game”, your “unhappy truth” is just a rationale for prejudging someone you don’t know at all. That defines prejudice. And, you may be fine with that, but let’s call it by it’s name.
It would seem like the money in the till was the attraction. What are you implying?
Mother of the year.
Maybe someone should consider saving that kid from his mother???
Upvote for correct usage of “pored”.
Absolutely! He pored intently into every detail of Stormy’s unnaturally large accusation of his gerrymandering her private effects and those of his post-partum third wife.
Ojeda was arrested in December stealing from a mall in Marin with a “ghost gun” while on parole.
How can you be out free if you just got arrested 2 months earlier with an illegal firearm while on parole? Not a rhetorical question, I’m actually wondering how our system/process makes that possible..
Except for the deadly assault perpetrated against me in Fremont two weeks ago, the last time I was the victim of a crime it was in Moraga: my bike was stolen
was the child endangerment charge for feeding the kid at Taco Bell?