OAKLAND — A 72-year-old man has been released from jail while he fights charges of killing a man who was allegedly squatting at the defendant’s dead mother’s home, court records show.
John Cvar, of Oakland, was charged in August with murdering Aknico Heidengren, a 33-year-old man who went by “Justice.” Cvar was being held with no bail until last month, when his lawyer filed motion referring to Heidengren as one of many “vagrants and drug users” that Cvar’s younger brother had allowed to stay at the brothers’ deceased mother’s residence, leading to a conflict between Heidengren and one of Cvar’s two brothers.
“I am a sovereign citizen,” Heidengren allegedly yelled at John Cvar and his brother when they told Heidengren to leave the residence. Cvar would later tell police that he and his brother were losing a fight with Heidengren, so Cvar pulled a pistol and — in his words — attempted to fire into the air to scare him, but apparently ended up somehow hitting Heidengren in the neck instead, according to court records.
Heidengren ran a short distance, but then fell to the ground, mortally wounded. Cvar was arrested and charged with murder. The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Aug. 9, at a home on the 500 block of Aileen Street in Oakland, court records show.
In court filings, Cvar’s lawyer, Seth Morris, described Cvar as a lifelong hard worker and caretaker, who stepped in to help his family — first when Cvar’s father was diagnosed with cancer, later when Cvar’s mother got sick and died, and finally when Cvar’s younger “alcoholic and drug addict” brother began living in the home and allowing random transients to stay there.
“Mr. Cvar, 72-year-old man with no record, tried to protect his addicted and vulnerable brother from man who was not supposed to be in his late mother’s house. He asked the man to leave, came back the next day, and the man violently attacked him and his brother,” Morris wrote. “Firing one shot in that situation is not crime. It was an act in response to the violence that was being inflicted on himself and his brother.”
Judge Michael Risher lowered Cvar’s bail to $100,000 at a September court hearing. Cvar subsequently posted the money and was released, also agreeing to relinquish his firearms, court records show. The defense bail motion includes a news story about Heidengren being arrested on a BART train in 2024 and describes him as a dangerous person with a history of brandishing weapons.
Just a four days before he was killed, Heidengren had been released from jail in a pending misdemeanor battery case, court records show. He had also been accused of brandishing a handle from a pull wagon at employees of an East Bay cafe last February, after they caught him stealing merchandise, according to court records.
Once arrested in the brandishing case, Heidengren was placed in a mental health hold but “escaped custody while en route” to a psychiatric medical facility, police said in court filings.
Cvar’s preliminary hearing has been set for Oct. 23.