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Police Arrest Teen Suspect In Violent BART Train Takeover Robbery

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The first suspect in a mob of 40 to 60 young people who stormed a Bay Area Rapid Transit train to rob passengers on Saturday night was arrested Friday afternoon, BART officials said.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said at 1:20 p.m. that the arrest had taken place within the last 30 minutes, but could not release further information, including where the arrest took place or whether the suspect lives in the Bay Area, because the suspect is a minor.

 

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Other arrest warrants are "in the system" Friday and more will be obtained next week, Trost said.

Suspects hopped the fare gates at the Coliseum station around 9:30 p.m. before boarding a Dublin/Pleasanton-bound train and committing at least seven robberies, injuring at least two people, BART police said.

"We were successful in arresting one of the perpetrators today," announced acting deputy chief for the BART Police Department Terence McCarty.

McCarty also offered a promise to the individuals involved in last weekend's mob-style robbery at the Coliseum BART station.

"You will be identified and you will be brought to justice," vowed McCarty.

The deputy chief said the train car's camera captured high quality images of the suspects. Investigators recognized at least one of them:

"We've issued today multiple arrest warrants for the suspects involved in the Coliseum incident," said McCarty.

Friday's announcement of the arrest comes one day after the department admitted to a seeing a 22-percent spike in crime over the past year.

When asked how the department was reassuring BART riders about their safety, McCarty replied,

"We're in emergency staffing."

McCarty also told KPIX 5 the department had already increased patrols because of the crime increase.

After Saturday's robberies, officers will now work one extra day per week.

BART riders KPIX 5 spoke with said they were relieved to hear about BART police progress in the investigation:

"Hopefully that'll teach the next person so they won't do that," said commuter Dee Sherman.

© Copyright 2017 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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