Oakland: Man dies after pursuit of gun-wielding hit-and-run suspect

OAKLAND — A police chase on Monday of a man who allegedly brandished a gun in a hit-and-run crash last week ended after the suspect crashed into a pickup truck at an East Oakland intersection, killing a 44-year-old Oakland man behind its wheel, authorities said.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on Monday afternoon said the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Jonathan Hernandez, struck a vehicle in front of him at the intersection of 73rd Avenue and International Boulevard around 4 p.m. on Friday. When that vehicle’s driver got out and tried to talk, Hernandez got out of his vehicle and brandished a handgun, racking its slide at the other driver, the chief said.

Hernandez fled before police arrived, but investigators managed to obtain a description and enough information from the victim, who recorded the incident. Officers identified Hernandez as a suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of threatening and brandishing a weapon.

Just before 7 a.m. Monday, in another East Oakland neighborhood, officers saw Hernandez get into the vehicle and tried to stop him, but Hernandez drove off, authorities said. Officers proceeded to chase Hernandez to the intersection of 69th Avenue and San Leandro Street, where his car traveling westbound along San Leandro struck the pickup truck.

The truck’s driver, identified only as a 44-year-old man, suffered major injury and was pronounced dead at the site of the crash. Police did not name the man, pending next-of-kin notification from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office coroner’s bureau.

Police took Hernandez, who did not suffer major injuries, into custody. Armstrong said officers recovered a firearm from his vehicle. No officers were injured.

All involved officers would be placed on administrative leave, pending investigations by the Oakland Police Department’s homicide and internal affairs divisions and the Community Police Review Agency, the investigative arm of the civilian Police Commission.

At a Monday afternoon press conference at police headquarters, Armstrong said the police chase was within policy because the suspect was wanted for a violent felony and had earlier brandished a firearm.

“Our policy does allow officers to pursue a vehicle that is involved in a violent felony or has a firearm involved in this case, both of which appeared to be afoot with this particular pursuit,” Armstrong said. “But all areas of this pursuit [are] being investigated by the department and, at some point when the investigation is concluded, this pursuit will go before a review court to determine whether [officers] complied with policy or not.”

The police department has struggled to address prior incidents involving officers’ pursuit and engagement of sought suspects, including one under investigation as unauthorized that led to a fatal June collision on International Boulevard. The two officers involved in that incident were still on leave and suspended from duty, pending that investigation’s outcome.

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Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.