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A multi-agency police pursuit that began with Vallejo officers made its way to Oakland Wednesday afternoon, ending with a foot chase in North Oakland and the arrest of two of the three suspects.
The pursuit caused Chabot Elementary School in Rockridge to go into lockdown mode for about 15 minutes, beginning at 12:50 p.m., at the request of California Highway Patrol officers, said Oakland school district spokesman Troy Flint.
Flint said some of the children were outside at recess at the time. "They got them in quickly," he said.
The lengthy pursuit of a residential burglary suspect, which began about 12:15 p.m., ended when the suspect's vehicle crashed just past the Caldecott Tunnel in Oakland, a California Highway Patrol officer said.
A man who had been gardening nearby, on Chabot Road, said he heard a loud bang and saw two men racing down the hill from the freeway, followed by CHP officers with their guns drawn.
The gardener, who wouldn't give his name because of safety concerns, said one of the men approached him. "He said, 'I'll give you a thousand dollars if you let me hide,'" the witness reported.
Shortly thereafter, Oakland police reported they had two men in custody and that they were still searching for a third.
Earlier Wednesday in Vallejo, police requested aid from CHP officers when the suspect's vehicle began speeding east on Interstate 780 toward Interstate 680 and the Benicia-Martinez Bridge,
Vallejo and CHP officers pursued the vehicle at high speeds south on I-680 to westbound Highway 24 and through the Caldecott Tunnel, CHP said.
The driver then tried to take the on-ramp to Highway 13 -- a near 180-degree turn -- at high speeds, CHP said. The car nearly collided with another vehicle before veering off the road and crashing, CHP said.
Two were taken into custody as of 1:45 p.m., though it is unclear if either of them was the driver, CHP said.
