Crime & Safety

Alleged Knife-wielding Mom with Infant Arrested in Plaza Theft

A 29-year-old Richmond mother with her infant in a stroller was arrested after she allegedly brandished a knife when employees at an El Cerrito Plaza business tried to detain her for suspected shoplifting, police said today, Tuesday.

A Richmond woman with her 11-month-old son in a stroller was arrested for investigation of robbery and other charges after she allegedly brandished a knife at employees of a business at El Cerrito Plaza who tried to detain her for theft, El Cerrito police said today, Tuesday.

It was one of two arrests of alleged knife-wielding suspects in separate incidents announced by police today.

In the mother-with-infant case, police were dispatched about 1:09 p.m. last Wednesday, May 16, in response to a report of a person brandishing a knife at the Plaza, according to a police news release. Employees had tried to stop the woman after she "attempted to leave the business without paying for some merchandise," the release said.

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When employees attempted to detain the woman, "she pulled out a knife and began waving it in a threatening manner," according to police.

The suspect, later identifed as Booshondia Daniel, 29, "fled the scene pushing a baby stroller with an infant inside of it," and was located at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station after a police search of the area, police said. She was allegedly also carrying a glass smoking pipe and a burglary tool, police said.

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Daniel is the mother of the infant, an 11-month-old boy, according to police Detective Corporal Gilbert Tang. He said police are not releasing the name of the business.

The boy's father was summoned and took custody of the infant, police said.

Daniel was booked at the El Cerrito police department for investigation of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, theft with priors, possession of burglary tools and possession of drug paraphenalia, police said. She was taken to the county jail in Martinez.

Alleged knife-wielding man arrested

A 50-year-old Richmond man was arrested by El Cerrito police Friday after detectives linked him to two cases in El Cerrito, including one at El Cerrito Plaza, where he brandished a knife when confronted for alleged shoplifting by store employees, police said in a news release today.

In one case, on May 15, police were sent to a business in the 11400 block of San Pablo Avenue about 12:59 p.m. on the report of man brandishing a knife. An employee told police that a man stole two bottles of liquor and had brandished a knife when contacted by the employee. The employee backed off and the man fled on a bicycle, police said.

A police detective who reviewed store video recognized the suspect from a previous incident on April 20 when the man, identified as Rodwick Keener, "had attempted to commit a theft using a similar method at a business in the El Cerrito Plaza." He was arrested on the warrant last Friday "when he was detained for shopping lifting in the city of Richmond," according to police.

He was booked for investigation of robbery and taken to the county jail in Martinez.

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