Overnight Oakland Police Pursuits

There were at least two car chases in Oakland overnight. One went through east Oakland all the way to Lake Merritt for about 20 minutes starting around 11:30 p.m. The other woke me up at around 3:30 a.m. — the California Highway Patrol pursued the car all over Oakland for about 40 minutes and screamed by my west Oakland apartment.

There were a few posts about the earlier pursuit on social media:

Based on scanner traffic, that pursuit started in the area of Seminary Avenue and Foothill Boulevard just before 11:30 p.m. It reached speeds of up to 70 mph as the driver of a gold Honda Accord led Oakland police officers west on Foothill to the Lake, then up and down Park Boulevard. The driver went back toward east Oakland, reached speeds of up to 70 mph on Fruitvale Avenue, then blew a tire on Alameda Avenue at about 11:40 p.m.

The driver turned north on High Street, then pulled over and surrendered just south of Coliseum Way. A passenger seen lying in the back seat during the pursuit was also arrested.

Radio archives of the pursuit obtained from Broadcastify are available here:

The second pursuit woke me up when blaring sirens screamed past my front door. I could hear them go off in the distance and then come back quickly. According to scanner traffic, CHP officers were pursuing the Honda Civic on Interstate 580 starting sometime before 3:10 a.m. It got onto Oakland city streets on Embarcadero near Fifth Avenue at about 3:35 a.m.

The driver went into downtown Oakland and dropped a passenger off in the area of 10th and Jackson streets. Then CHP officers chased the car into west Oakland and back toward downtown again. In a statement, the CHP said the driver dried to get out and run away in west Oakland but was arrested. The passenger who was dropped off was detained as well.

Here’s the full statement from the CHP:

This morning at approximately 3am, CHP officers attempted to stop a Honda Civic for not having any licenses plates. The Honda did not stop and a pursuit was initiated. During the 43 minute pursuit, the driver traversed I-580, I-80, I-980 and I-880 and several city streets. At one point during the pursuit, the driver attempted to drop off a passenger in the downtown Oakland area, we detained and later released that passenger.

Eventually, the driver attempted to flee on foot at 14th and Center Street but he was quickly captured by pursuing officers.

The driver, 55 year old Vincent Martin of Oakland, was arrested and booked on charges including driving without a license, felony evasion and resisting arrest.