Oakland cop is injured in hitrun crash

A driver fleeing a hitandrun crash in East Oakland struck a police vehicle Tuesday night, injuring an officer who was directing traffic from an earlier accident in which a car ran into a church.

Police arrested the driver and recovered a loaded, stolen gun. The officer was transported to a hospital and has since been released.

The sequence began when a car crashed into Grace Baptist Church at 98th Street and Walter Avenue just after 8 p.m., damaging the building.

Several blocks away, a driver who hit a vehicle in an unrelated accident fled the scene, driving in the direction of the church, authorities said.

Around 8:46 p.m. the driver reached the scene of the church crash, where officers had set up a traffic control post. The driver allegedly “intentionally struck” a marked patrol car to break through the post and continue fleeing the scene, police said.

Oakland police have not released the driver’s name. The Alameda County Sheriff ’s Office website shows that 40yearold Cinique Black was arrested around 9 p.m. Tuesday for assault of a peace officer with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, in addition to stolengun and hitandrun charges. Black’s bail is set at $540,000, and he will have an arraignment hearing on Friday.

Three other people received minor injuries from the crash into the church, according to KTVU.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Charles Hopkins, said it will cost more than $50,000 to repair the building, which sustained significant structural damage from being hit at high speed.

“He went to church!” Hopkins said of the driver who crashed into the church, explaining where the car came to a halt. “He was all the way in there. It was a blessing nobody was there.”

The driver, who was injured, tried to leave the car and take off on foot, Hopkins said.

“He wanted to leave the car in the church and take off, but a community person grabbed him until first responders came,” Hopkins said.

Police did not immediately say whether the driver who crashed into the church was arrested.

Church leadership feared that electrical damage from the accident would prevent them from preparing food for the hungry, as they do every Wednesday, but their contractor was able to get the kitchen running with a makeshift electrical hookup, Hopkins said.

He expects to hold regular church services this weekend once temporary walls and doors are set up.