Woman and 4-year-old children carjacked at gunpoint in Alameda

ALAMEDA – A girl and two 4-year-old children were the victims of a carjacking at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon, and three suspects – two women and a person – were later arrested after crashing the stolen automobile in San Francisco, police said.

The carjacking occurred around 2:06 p.m. Wednesday within the 2800 block of Mound Street, a residential area on the east end of Alameda.

A 42-year-old woman had parked her BMW SUV outside a house that was not her home, together with two 4-year-old children – a boy and a lady – police said. All three are Alameda residents and the girl is believed to be related to a minimum of considered one of the kids, authorities said.

As the girl parked, three suspects – two women and a person, all 18-year-old Oakland residents – approached the vehicle, police said.

One of the ladies was holding a gun and the suspects demanded the vehicle keys, police said. The woman complied and was allowed to get the kids out of the vehicle, police said. No one was physically injured.

The suspects then drove away within the SUV.

With the assistance of a GPS tracking device, the police were capable of locate the SUV while it was driving.

An Oakland police helicopter was requested to pursue the SUV; it followed the vehicle across the Bay Bridge and into San Francisco, where police there had been alerted, Alameda police said.

All three suspects were arrested on the Santa Rita Jail on quite a few charges, including auto theft, child abuse and weapons possession.

The woman suspected of brandishing the gun is being held on $435,000 bail, the person on $425,000 bail and the opposite woman on $355,000 bail. The three are scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

Authorities said the three were being investigated as possible suspects in similar crimes in other East Bay cities.

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