Mar 3 2021

Piedmont Robbery Update!

Piedmont Police Department Press Release –

On February 18, 2021, a jury found Christopher Ware guilty of second degree robbery with personal
use of a firearm, an additional second degree robbery, identity theft, possession of a firearm as a
convicted felon and several other firearms and ammunition offenses.

On July 10, 2020, the defendant followed the victim (a 76 year old woman) from an In-N-Out in East
Oakland to her home in Piedmont. When the victim parked in front of her house, the defendant
forced her driver’s door open and robbed her at gunpoint. The defendant fled the area in his white
Lexus RX300. The victim was able to provide a limited description of the suspect, his vehicle and
the handgun he used. Also, City of Piedmont license plate readers and public safety cameras
recorded the defendant’s vehicle driving behind the victim into Piedmont city limits minutes before
the robbery. This information was shared with other law enforcement agencies in the area.

On July 31, 2020, Oakland Police officers noticed the defendant on Douglas Avenue in Oakland.
Officers watched the defendant get into the driver’s seat of his white Lexus RX300 and detained him
before he could drive away. Officers found an unregistered and loaded black Smith & Wesson .45
caliber handgun next to the driver’s seat. The handgun had multiple distinctive markings on it
consistent with what the Piedmont victim described.

This is another example of the successful collaboration between local law enforcement and the
District Attorney’s office combined with the use of technology to apprehend the suspect in these
crimes.

Anyone with additional information and/or inquiries related to this case are asked to please contact
Detective Jeff Spranza or John Lagios at (510) 420-3013.

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