Suspect Arrested in El Cerrito Home Invasion Robberies

This article was updated at 3:50 p.m., today, Wednesday.

The suspect in a day-long, multi-city crime spree that began with two home-invasion robberies in El Cerrito Tuesday morning was arrested after stealing a police car and struggling with police in Richmond Tuesday, according to Richmond police.

Edgar James, 32, was arrested in Richmond shortly around 8:40 p.m. after stealing a Richmond police car, escaping police gunfire and leading police on a chase across the city, said Richmond police Lt. Bisa French.

James had once been arrested by El Cerrito police in a different case, for a home invasion robbery on Potrero Avenue in November, but the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence, accoring to El Cerrito police Lt. Paul Keith.

James has an an address in Castro Valley and has "ties to Richmond," though where he had been residing was not clear, French said.

Police believe James is the robber who gained entry to two homes on King Drive in El Cerrito Tuesday morning by smashing down the front doors. The robber assaulted the resident of one home and stole a car from the other, police said.

He was spotted in Kensington driving a different car taken at gunpoint from a Kensington resident and chased by police through neighborhood streets before escaping by driving on a fire trail through the Hillside Nature Area in El Cerrito, police said.

Meanwhile, police in Martinez got a call around 12:48 p.m. from someone reporting that an armed man had entered a home on Donaleen Court and
demanded cash, and Bay City News reported.

After taking $200 from the resident, James allegedly stole a car at gunpoint from the home's other resident, police said. At 2:37 p.m., police learned that the car stolen in Martinez had been found in Vacaville in front of another home where someone had entered and stolen a vehicle.

About three hours later, at 5:34 p.m., another resident of Donaleen Court in Martinez reported a suspicious vehicle parked in her driveway – the same car reported stolen in Kensington hours earlier.

El Cerrito detectives meanwhile, suspecting that James may have been the robber, conducted photo line-ups with witnesses to the Tuesday morning crimes in El Cerrito and Kensington and secured witness identifications of James, Keith said. They then secured an arrest warrant with $525,000 bail, Keith said.

About 8 p.m. in Richmond, police responded to the 700 block of 18th street on the report of the stolen vehicle out of Vallejo, and as officers were setting up a perimeter, James allegedly jumped into a police car and drove away, French said. El Cerrito police were also at the scene, Keith said.

A Richmond police officer fired two shots at the car but did not hit James, French said.

After another chase "throughout the city," James drove into dead-end Reid Court, where the police car was boxed in and where James was arrested after a struggle, French said. He received minor injuries, and no officers were injured, she said.

French said police used a Taser to subdue him and take him into custody, according to Bay City News. "He was on a one-man crime spree – the final straw was taking a police car." French said in the Bay City News account. "This guy was very dangerous. We're glad he's off the street.”

French said James was booked into jail for investigation of stealing a police car and "tons of other charges" that police were still compiling.

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