Full Notification

During the month of October 2019, the San Leandro Police Department recovered fifteen guns in separate incidents, with four being recovered between October 29 and October 31. While none of the fifteen recovered firearms were used to commit violent crimes, officers came across eight of those guns during proactive traffic stops. The remaining seven guns were recovered from incidents ranging from found property to a residential burglary where an illegal marijuana grow operation was discovered. 

The following are summaries of four significant cases:

On October 25, 2019, a 17-year-old juvenile male was driving a stolen vehicle westbound on Marina Boulevard when an officer observed the vehicle and attempted to initiate a traffic stop. While leading the officer in a vehicle pursuit, the juvenile male suspect lost control of the vehicle and hit a mother and child as they were crossing the street at the intersection of Fairway Drive and Doolittle Drive. The suspect regained control of the vehicle and fled from the accident scene while officers discontinued their pursuit to tend to the hit and run victims. Another officer located the vehicle as it was getting onto eastbound I-238 but lost sight of it due to heavy traffic on the freeway. The officer continued searching for the vehicle on I-238, came across a multiple vehicle accident, and saw the 17-year-old suspect running away from the stolen vehicle on foot. The officer gave chase, caught the suspect, and after a violent fight, took the suspect into custody. At the time of his arrest, the 17-year-old male juvenile had a loaded gun in his pants pocket. The juvenile was arrested and transported to juvenile hall for felony reckless evading in a vehicle, felony hit and run, felony possession of a firearm, and resisting arrest. The mother and child sustained major non-life-threatening injuries. Both were treated at area hospitals and are now recovering at home.

The second incident occurred on October 29, 2019 when officers responded to a man with a gun call for service in the 400 block of Nabor Street. Upon their arrival, officers located the suspect that was described to police dispatchers by the caller and an associated vehicle. During the search of the vehicle, officers located a loaded firearm. John Teixeira, a 40-year-old San Leandro resident, was arrested for multiple firearm violations that included being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.

The third incident occurred on October 30, 2019, when detectives attempted to make a traffic stop on a known wanted felon, Jorge Garcia. SLPD detectives located a 2006 Ford Mustang in the parking lot of the Radisson Hotel in the 8400 block of Edes Avenue in Oakland where a “high risk” traffic stop was performed. After negotiating with the vehicle’s occupants for a short period of time, the three occupants were taken into custody without incident. During a search of the Ford, two guns were recovered. Steven Casey, Jr., a 29-year-old male from Oakland, and Jorge Garcia, a 29-year-old San Leandro resident, were both arrested on multiple firearm violations that included being a felon in possession of a firearm and probation violations.  The third occupant in the vehicle, 23-year-old, Oakland resident, Maria Cabrera, was arrested on an unrelated outstanding felony warrant.

The forth incident occurred on October 31, 2019 when officers responded to Toyon Park where witnesses reported that a gun was brandished during an argument. Upon arrival, an officer saw 26-year-old, Oakland resident, Gabriel Veliz-Cortez, discard a firearm underneath a vehicle and run out of the park with four other males. As additional officers arrived in the area, Veliz-Cortez was detained and arrested in the 1500 block of 146th Avenue without incident for being a felon in possession of a firearm