One suspect arrested in crime spree; two at large

Police say men struck May 5 in East Bay, SF

FREMONT >> Police said they had one suspect in custody after a violent multicity crime spree earlier this month, but two accomplices — including a person who wore a court-ordered ankle monitor during the attacks, then slipped it off days later — are still at large.

Tyler Spears, 23, of Antioch, is suspected in the May 5 hone invasion robbery of a residence in the 2000 block of Laurel Canyon Court. Police said he and another suspect entered the Fremont home, pointed guns at a person inside, made the residents lay on the ground and ransacked the place.

Spears has been charged with home-invasion robbery, being armed while committing a felony, being a felon in possession of a gun, possession of stolen property, and probation and parole violations, authorities said. He remained in custody as of Tuesday and was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin.

Police identified the second suspect as 21-yearold Vermond Jones, of San Francisco. According to police, Spears and Jones are both gang members with extensive criminal histories, and Spears was on probation for a separate domestic violence conviction.

A third unidentified person waited in the getaway car outside, police said. The robbery happened around 10:35 a.m.

Police said that video surveillance, license plate readers and community cameras provided investigators with several pictures of Spears and Jones, as well as the vehicle they used.

Further investigation uncovered the three as suspects in three more crimes that took place on May 5, police said: a violent robbery of a woman in San Francisco, a burglary in Union City and an attempted home burglary in Fremont.

Fremont police said they utilized their SWAT team because of the violence associated with the two men, and the SWAT team tracked down Spears in Vallejo on May 14. Police said he had a loaded gun on him that they believe he took from a January burglary in Suisun City.

Police are still looking for Jones; they said he had disabled his court-ordered GPS tracking ankle monitor, which he had been wearing during the May 5 crime spree, on the same day Spears was arrested.

Authorities have issued a warrant for Jones’ arrest, and multiple agencies are searching for him. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Fremont police are urging anyone who may know where Jones is hiding to contact Det. Greg Wong at 510-552-7670 or Det. Michael Gebhardt at 510-6733664.