Oakley police make robbery arrest

Suspects identified in Chevron incident

By Chris Campos Staff Writer

OAKLEY The Oakley Police Department announced an arrest Monday, Jan. 23, in the case of a reported “strong-arm robbery” at the Chevron station at 5433 Neroly Road.

At about 9:40 p.m., a store employee reported a Hispanic adult male, wearing black clothing and gloves, entered the store and demanded money from the register. At 10:31 p.m. Oakley police were notified that county Sheriff’s deputies were in pursuit of a vehicle heading into the city. Oakley officers chased the vehicle onto a dead-end street and the suspect fled his vehicle.

Oakley Police Officers Brett Jackson and Malik Jackson chased him down an alley and caught him as he tried to jump over a fence, according to a Oakley police press release

Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard identified the suspect as Jorge Lara, 25, of Oakley. Lara had an arrest warrant related to a parole violation and robbery. Lara was also found with large amounts of cash, and the Oakley Police Investigations Bureau is looking into whether or not Lara may have been involved in a string of similar robberies in Oakley and Brentwood a couple of weeks ago.

Lara has been booked at the main jail in Martinez.

Beard also said, “Once again I stand proud of my officers and supervisors to take an aggressive stance against crime and to quickly piece together multiple pieces of simultaneous information and establish a nexus to not only what they had going on, but also to previous crimes against our residents and business owners.”

Two-vehicle collision in Byron leaves one dead

Staff Reports

BYRON The driver of a silver Nissan Sentra died of his injuries following a collision with a tractor trailer on the morning of Friday, Jan. 20.

The California Highway Patrol received a call just before 10 a.m. of a twovehicle collision on Highway 4 at Hoffman Lane, according to a CHP press release. The northbound Nissan and eastbound tractor trailer each had one occupant. The driver of the Nissan entered the intersection directly in front of the tractor trailer causing the tractor trailer to collide with the left side of the Nissan, the press release states, adding that the driver of the Nissan died of his injuries at the hospital and the driver of the tractor trailer was not injured. The crash is still under investigation. CHP has encouraged anyone with information to contact CHP Contra Costa in Martinez by calling (925) 646-4980.