San Leandro, CALIFORNIA — This morning, San Leandro Police officers responded to a reported robbery and arrested the suspect, who was armed with a replica pistol, as he fled the store.
At 8:30am, the suspect, who was inside of the 7-Eleven store located in the 300 block of E. 14th St., approached the clerk at the cash register and placed several live rounds of small-caliber handgun ammunition on the sales counter before telling the clerk that he was “taking what was in his pockets.”
The clerk verbally challenged the suspect, who police have identified as 24 year old, Kevin Wooden of San Leandro, and told him to return the items that he was in the process of stealing. Wooden emptied his pockets and threw the items onto the floor, before walking out of the store.
The clerk followed Wooden into the parking lot to make sure he left the store. A regional employee of the 7-Eleven Corporation, who witnessed some of the incident, convinced the clerk to return to the store.
As the clerk turned to walk away, Wooden pulled out a pellet gun that was a replica of a Smith and Wesson M&P .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. Wooden raised the gun in a shooting stance and fired at the clerk, striking him in the face, near his eye.
Responding police officers saw Wooden walking away from the store on E. 14th St., carrying the replica firearm. When he spotted the officers, Wooden threw the pistol into a nearby bush, just before police arrested him without incident.
The entire incident was captured on surveillance video from the store and neighboring businesses.
“This was a very dangerous situation for everyone,” stated Lt. Robert McManus. “The officer who spotted Wooden carrying the replica firearm made a split-second decision and safely arrested him without having to use any type of force in the process. Fortunately, this was resolved peacefully. It could have ended in tragedy,” he said.
The clerk was transported to a local hospital, where he will undergo a surgical procedure to have the embedded pellet removed from his face.
Officer arrested Wooden on suspicion of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held at the San Leandro Police Jail, and will be transferred to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, before his court appearance later this week.
**The photos shown are a comparison between the pellet pistol that police recovered during the investigation (Image 1 – white background) and an internet image of a Smith and Wesson M&P .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol (Image 3 – gray background with logos).**
