Four arrested after laptops stolen from San Leandro Starbucks.
Labari Perry, 24, and Kevin Perry, 18, were arrested days apart, along with two teenage girls, following the Sept. 30 encounter.
SAN LEANDRO — Two men accused of stealing a laptop from a Starbucks earlier this week were charged Tuesday with committing a robbery, authorities said Friday.
Labari Perry, 24, and Kevin Perry, 18, were arrested days apart following the Sept. 30 encounter. Authorities say the two unrelated men stole a laptop and that their getaway vehicle crashed.
Two drones helped officers track down the younger Perry, police said. They added that two teenage girls also were involved.
It all happened at the Starbucks in the 1050 block of MacArthur Boulevard. Officers were dispatched there around 1:50 p.m. and said they found an abandoned vehicle that had crashed into the center median.
Witnesses told officers that a man later identified as Labari Perry entered the Starbucks and grabbed a laptop from a customer. Police said Perry ran out of the Starbucks with the laptop to an awaiting vehicle parked along the west curb of MacArthur Boulevard.
The computer’s owner and other people in the area chased Perry and caused the vehicle to crash, police said. Three people inside the car got out and fled, police said, but two of them — a 17-year-old girl and 16-year-old girl, both from Oakland — were detained immediately without incident, police said.
Kevin Perry ran away into backyards of homes in the neighborhood and later into the San Leandro Creek area, police said, and officers responded by using one of their drones and one from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to search for him.
The search eventually led to the 800 block of Cary Drive, where police said Kevin Perry was hiding.
Through interviews, police said they learned that the four suspects worked together to commit the crime and identified the older Perry. Police found Labari Perry the next day in the 5900 block of Fortune Avenue in Oakland and arrested him there.
The two girls were taken to Alameda County Juvenile Hall and were expected also to be charged with robbery.
Police said laptop thefts from coffee shops and other places are on the rise and advised the public to sit away from the doors, to face parking lots and other open spaces, to be aware of other persons approaching, and never to leave personal property unattended.