To Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
San Francisco Police Department officers arrested five men involved in carjackings on Black Friday, November 26, as part of a citywide operation to reduce the crime of carjacking and armed robbery.
Police officers were patrolling Fulton and Lyon streets when at 4:55 p.m., officers stopped a white sedan with two suspects lurking in several vehicles.
Both suspects attempted to flee the scene, however, officers pursued them on foot, stopped them and arrested them. The men were identified as 28-year-old Donnell Lee Mark of Vallejo and a 15-year-old male from San Francisco.
Officers searched the suspect vehicle and located a functioning “ghost gun,” as well as personal belongings and various pieces of evidence linking them to numerous car thefts.
According to a statement released by the Police Department on Thursday, Mark was transported to the San Francisco County Jail and booked on charges of second-degree robbery, among 12 other charges; while the minor was transported to the Juvenile Justice Center on 16 felony charges.
Later that evening, in a second unrelated incident, San Francisco police officers were in the area of Bay and Kearny streets, and at approximately 6:54 p.m. observed a suspicious white sedan stalking vehicles in a nearby parking lot.
Officers recognized it as a vehicle already wanted in connection with several carjackings and at least one armed robbery in San Francisco.
The vehicle stopped in the parking lot and three suspects exited. Officers approached the suspects who returned to the car and began fleeing the scene. The car turned southbound on El Embarcadero, as spike strips were deployed on the roadway, resulting in all four tires of the suspect car being punctured.
The men involved continued to flee and led police on a chase toward Interstate 280 and back onto city streets before ending in the area of Third and Evans Avenue.
During the chase, the suspect vehicle struck several other cars.
At the end of the chase, all three suspects exited the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot, however, officers pursued each of them and arrested them without further incident.
They were identified as Elijah Ifopo, 23, and Ajay Balaoro, 24, both of San Francisco, and Caleb Tuimavave, 21, of Daly City.
While fleeing from officers, Ifopo dropped a firearm with an extended magazine which was later located and secured by officers. Additionally, a loaded firearm with an extended magazine was found in Balaoro’s waistband after he was taken into custody.
Officers subsequently searched the suspect vehicle and located personal belongings and various pieces of evidence linking them to numerous car thefts.
While arresting one of the suspects, an officer suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Ifopo, Tuimavave and Balaoro were later transported to the San Francisco County Jail and booked on various charges.
While arrests have been made, the investigation remains open. The San Francisco Police Department is urging anyone with information to call the SFPD tip line at 1-415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and start the text with SFPD. Anyone wishing to help can remain anonymous.
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