NFL Free Agent, 8 Others Arrested In $1 Million East Bay Cell Phone Robbery Spree
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- NFL free agent Isaiah Langley and eight others have been arrested in a $1 million East Bay crime spree targeting UPS and Federal Express drivers making deliveries to cellular telephone stores, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O'Malley said the defendants were being held on charges stemming from multiple separate robberies and grand thefts.
The arrests were the culmination of a four-month investigation that involved 31 cities and ten counties throughout Northern and Central California. Arrest warrants were served on Aug. 29th during raids in Oakland, San Leandro, and Pittsburg.
Eight men and women were arrested during those raids and six guns were seized including an assault rifle, along with two illegal ammunition magazines, stolen property from the thefts, and other physical evidence.
"The suspects would rush the drivers as they approached the stores with boxes of merchandise, grab the boxes and run to vehicles that displayed paper dealer plates," prosecutors said in a press release. "In some cases, force or fear was used in the crimes."
Langley, 23, who was born in Pleasanton and starred on the football team of Foothill High School in Pleasanton and the University of Southern California, was taken into custody in Lake Forest, Illinois, last Saturday and is expected to be brought to Alameda County for arraignment at a future date, prosecutors said.
Langley was signed by the Oakland Raiders on June 11 and cut on Aug. 9. The Indianapolis Colts signed him two days later but waived him on Saturday, the day he was arrested.
In the course of its investigation, Pleasant Hill detectives obtained a palm print left at one of the thefts by a suspect. Following the identification of the initial suspect, a task force of local law enforcement agencies joined the investigation and developed leads on the suspects.
An additional 11 individuals were identified to be involved in the scheme.
"These bold robberies endangered the victims as well as the communities in which they took place," O'Malley said in a news release. "I am dedicated to ensuring that each participant in this criminal enterprise is brought to justice. The investigation and operation were professional and well executed and I thank all our partner agencies for their hard work and dedication."
The defendants arrested in the Bay Area are: Ahlayah Thompson, 24, of Ripon, (arrested in Santa Maria); Cornelius Ronnell Brown, 25, of Alameda; Cedric Thomas, 28, of Pittsburg; Yamonte Tyrell Cross, 24, of Oakland; Ciera Craig, 26, of Oakland; Alisa Bobino, 25, of Oakland; and Diamond Jones, 24, of San Leandro.
Those seven defendants were arraigned in Alameda County Superior Court on Monday.
Prosecutors said four other suspects were being sought -- Fard Collins, 24, of Oakland; D'Anthony Larks, 24, of Oakland; Marquis Lewis, 23, of Oakland and Julius Smith, 23, of Discovery Bay.
