Lafayette To Concord Pursuit Leads To Chain Of Dropped Evidence; Arrest After Ride-Share Pickup

We believe in short, punchy headlines but sometimes our stories just don’t make that approach possible.

A police pursuit we believe originated in Lafayette with ties to a Danville robbery case led to twisty chase that ended with a suspect shedding his car, clothes, a weapon, his car keys but apparently not his phone Tuesday as it is believed he used that device to summon a ride-share to whisk him from the police perimeter.

Things kicked off at approximately 11:15 a.m. when a sharp-eyed police officer spotted a black Chevy Blazer allegedly used in an earlier robbery in Danville and followed it up onto Highway 24. Police began to close in on the car after it turned north on I680 and then onto Highway 242 – the driver speeding off as police attempted to stop the car.

Near as we can tell at this stage the driver made his way to the 2200 block of Ranchito Drive before abandoning his car and sprinting off on foot. Police arriving in the area began to locate items the suspect was believed to have been wearing – including a sweatshirt, backpack with a firearm, car keys and other items.

Police and a CHP helicopter swarmed into the area near North Concord BART searching for the suspect, who a witness said may have dialed a car company to help evade a tightening police cordon. A description of a car believed to have picked up the suspect was provided and that vehicle was stopped as a police helicopter circled overhead.

Danville police are saying the suspect, whom they identify as Sean Shavers, 28, of Oakland, was wanted in connection with an armed robbery at a business on Hartz Avenue in their city on Feb. 22. The black Chevy Blazer allegedly used in that robbery was the vehicle Shavers used to run from officers and eventually abandoned on Tuesday.

Lafayette officers arrested Shavers for using a vehicle to evade a police officer, felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, and possession of a high-capacity magazine. He was booked at the Martinez Detention Facility and is being held on $170,000 bail.