Two charged with murdering Oakland tow truck driver during attempted robbery
OAKLAND — Two 20-year-old men have been arrested and charged with murdering a tow truck driver during an attempted robbery last June, court records show.
Aaron Hein and Marco Dragula, both of Dublin, have been charged with murder, attempted second-degree robbery in the June 14 killing of 43-year-old Tim Nielsen, an Auburn resident.
Dragula is charged with shooting into an occupied car and personally discharging the gun that killed Nielsen, an indication that police believe him to be the shooter. Hein is charged as a “major participant” to the homicide who acted “with reckless disregard for human life,” the criminal complaint says.
Nielsen, a father of four, was on a repossession assignment in Oakland when he was fatally shot during a robbery attempt, authorities said. He was found dead about 4:13 a.m. inside his 2019 Ford F450 tow truck that had crashed into a building in the 1800 block of East 12th Street at 19th Avenue.
A police probable cause statement says simply that Dragula and Hein were identified by witnesses, without elaboration. Both men are in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on no-bail holds, having been arrested Sept. 28, court records show.
Dragula has twice been charged with felony gun possession this year, in February and July. He was out on bail on both cases at the time of his arrest, court records show.