Arrest made in theft of Oakland mayor’s SUV

Authorities arrested a man on Thursday afternoon who is suspected of stealing Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee’s city-issued SUV over the holiday weekend.

Oakland police carried out the arrest while serving a search warrant in the 100 block of Carroll Street in Vallejo, authorities said. The man was then brought back to Oakland to be questioned by investigators.

Officers also recovered some items believed to link the man to the heist, authorities said.

The development comes days after Lee’s city-issued Ford Expedition, which had California-exempt license plates, was taken over the holiday weekend from a secured City Hall parking lot. The vehicle was found on Tuesday in Vallejo, and investigators were working Wednesday to determine whether anything of value was taken from inside the SUV.

Investigators suspect the key fob to the Ford Expedition was taken from an office of one of the mayor’s staff members, authorities said. The thief then managed to go down to the secure lot and — using the key fob — found the mayor’s vehicle and drove away in it, authorities said.

In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for Lee said that “no one in Oakland should have to worry about their car being stolen, whether they’re a resident, a city worker or the mayor,” adding that “public safety is a priority across our entire city.”

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *