OAKLAND — A local resident has been arrested and charged with shooting at and beating a repo man who was attempting to take the defendant’s Cadillac Escalade, court records show.
The Aug. 31 incident has resulted in two felony assault charges and a misdemeanor gun possession charge being filed against a 51-year-old Oakland resident, who later claimed he believed the man repossessing his car was actually a local burglar. But police say the man had the Cadillac partially hoisted onto a tow truck and informed the suspect he was “working” before the beating occurred.
The victim was loading the Cadillac onto his truck, outside a home on the 7800 block of Crest Avenue, when the first show whizzed past him. He later told police that the suspect fired at him twice, then walked up and angrily confronted him, authorities said.
“You ain’t taking my car,” the man said, before allegedly taking the victim’s jack handle and striking him repeatedly. The victim suffered a head injury, and later told police that his attacker told him, “You’re going to die today,” during the assault, authorities said.
The suspect told police he believed the repo man was actually a person who’d been burglarizing vehicles in the neighborhood, and that he assisted him when he learned what was actually going on. Police say when they arrived, the victim was lying outside in a pool of his own blood and the suspect was inside his nearby home. The suspect later admitted that he knew he’d incurred an outstanding $2,000 debt, authorities said.
The suspect has been released on $60,000 bail, with court-ordered conditions that include an understanding police can search his home for weapons at-will, and that he stays away from the victim. His next court date has been set for October, records show.
