Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Person of Interest Found After Reports of Carjacking, Kidnapping Deemed Unfounded

Roy McCamey, 54, has been picked up by police and will be questioned by investigators.

Update on 2/13 By Bay City News—

Police have located a person of interest sought after a reported carjacking and kidnapping outside an Oakland grocery store Tuesday that was later determined to be without merit, a police spokeswoman said.
 
Roy McCamey, 54, was picked up by another law enforcement agency and will be interviewed by Oakland police investigators, Officer Johnna Watson said.
 
McCamey's name became connected today with a series of changing stories that took place at a Safeway Store at 4100 Redwood Road at about 1 p.m. Tuesday. Witnesses outside the store told police that a knife-wielding man forced the driver to drive away while a 13-year-old girl was in the car, Officer Johnna Watson said.
 
The California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert searching for them, which was canceled when investigators determined the suspect and victims knew each other and there was no kidnapping, Watson said. McCamey, who is believed to frequent the area round the Safeway, was identified him as a person of interest after investigators released images of a shoplifter captured by store cameras witnesses came forward to report that the person looked like McCamey, police said.
 
Watson said law enforcement agencies have had contact with McCamey in the past, and that he has a history of committing thefts, although he doesn't have a history of any violent offenses. Witnesses had told police that the suspect came out of the store, approached the victims' car, which was traveling through the parking lot, opened a door and got inside, according to Watson.
 
Although witnesses overheard the suspect talking to the male victim, they thought it appeared that they didn't know each other, police said. Police had initially described the car as a red or burgundy 2001 Infiniti SUV but after tracking down the owner of the car with the reported license plate number, investigators concluded that the car they were looking for was actually a sedan.
 
Police yesterday located the sedan's driver and after interviewing him, investigators determined that all three people knew each other and that the girl in the car was actually over 18 years old.

Update By Bay City News 7:31 p.m.—

An Amber Alert issued after a reported carjacking and kidnapping in Oakland Tuesday has been canceled as the suspect and victims knew each other and were not kidnapped, a police spokeswoman said.

Police today located the driver of a red sedan that was sought after witnesses outside the Safeway store at 4100 Redwood Road told police that a knife-wielding man forced the driver to drive away while a 13-year-old girl was in the car at about 1 p.m., Officer Johnna Watson said.
 
However, after interviewing the driver police determined that all three people knew each other and that the girl in the car was actually over 18 years old. The Amber Alert was then canceled.
 
Police are still searching for a person of interest in the case, identified as 54-year-old Roy McCamey, who is believed to frequent the area round the Safeway. McCamey is described as black, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds.
 
Police identified him as a person of interest after investigators released images of a shoplifter captured by store cameras and witnesses came forward to report that the person looked like McCamey.
 
Watson said law enforcement agencies have had contact with McCamey in the past, and that he has a history of committing thefts, although he doesn't have a history of any violent offenses. Witnesses had told police that the suspect came out of the store, approached the victims' car, which was traveling through the parking lot, opened a door and got inside, according to Watson.

Although witnesses overheard the suspect talking to the male victim, they thought it appeared that they didn't know each other, police said. Police had initially described the car as a red or burgundy 2001 Infiniti SUV but after tracking down the owner of the car with the reported license plate number, investigators concluded that the car they were looking for was actually a sedan. 

Update By Bay City News at 4:49 p.m.—


An Amber Alert that was issued after a reported carjacking and kidnapping at an Oakland shopping center on Tuesday has been canceled, according to the California Highway Patrol.

"All involved parties have been located," CHP officials said on Twitter this afternoon. The alert was issued after witnesses reported seeing a knife-wielding man steal several items from a Safeway store at 4100 Redwood Road and then take a vehicle at knifepoint shortly before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to police.

An older man and a teenage girl were inside the vehicle, according to the witness reports. Police indicated earlier today that they were looking for a person of interest in the case, 54-year-old Roy McCamey, whose last known address was in Oakland.

They identified him as a person of interest after investigators released images of the shoplifter captured by store cameras and witnesses came forward to report that the person looked like McCamey, who is known to frequent the area around the Safeway.

Police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said law enforcement agencies have had contact with McCamey in the past, and that he has a history of committing thefts, although he doesn't have a history of any violent offenses.

McCamey is described as black, 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighing about 165 pounds. The suspect in Tuesday's incident was described as a black man in his 40s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 165 pounds, with salt-and-pepper hair. He was wearing a green shirt, a blue jacket, blue jeans and headphones, police said.
 
The victims in the incident were described by witnesses as an elderly black man and a black girl about 13 years old, according to police. However, Watson said earlier today that there had been no missing-persons reports for people matching those descriptions -- a factor that she said "is certainly a concern for us and for investigators."

"There are a lot of unanswered questions that surround this case," Watson told reporters at a briefing at police headquarters this morning. Witnesses told police that the suspect came out of the store, approached the victims' car, which was traveling through the parking lot, opened a door and got inside, according to Watson.
 
Although witnesses overheard the suspect talking to the male victim, they thought it appeared that they didn't know each other, police said. However, she conceded, "It's always possible that the suspect knows or has a relationship with the occupants of the car."
 
Watson also said, "It's possible that the victims are afraid to come forward because they don't want to get into trouble."

Police initially described the car as a red or burgundy 2001 Infiniti SUV with a license plate number of 6JFM648 but later said witnesses told them that the vehicle might actually be a burgundy or red sedan.
 
Watson said police have tracked down the owner of the car with that license plate number and he told them that he still owns the car, which is a 2001 Infiniti SUV, but that he now lives in another state and has a license plate from that state. The man told police that he doesn't know what happened to his old California license plates, according to Watson.

Update By Bay City News at 12 p.m.—

Oakland police announced today that they have identified a person of interest in what was initially reported as a carjacking and kidnapping at the Lincoln Square Shopping Center on Tuesday.

At a news conference at police headquarters this morning, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said the person investigators are looking for is 54-year-old Roy McCamey.
 
An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday afternoon after an incident outside a Safeway store at 4100 Redwood Road in which witnesses told police that a knife-wielding man had carjacked a vehicle with another man and a teenager inside it shortly before 1 p.m.
 
Police initially described the car as a red or burgundy Infiniti SUV with a license plate number of 6JFM648 but later said the vehicle might actually be a sedan. Watson said Tuesday afternoon that initial reports indicated that the man with the knife did not appear to know the occupants of the car, who were described as an elderly man and a girl about 13 years old.
 
However, she said this morning that police have not received any missing-persons reports that match up with the case. Just before the alleged carjacking, the suspect apparently shoplifted some items from the Safeway and then ran out of the store, Watson said.
 
McCamey was identified as a person of interest in the case after police released images of the shoplifter captured by store cameras and witnesses came forward to report that the person looked like McCamey, who is known to frequent the area around the Safeway.
 
Watson said law enforcement agencies have had contact with McCamey in the past, and that he has a history of committing thefts. McCamey is described as black, 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 8 inches tall, and weighing about 165 pounds. The suspect in Tuesday's incident was described as a black man in his 40s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 165 pounds, with salt-and-pepper hair.

He was wearing a green shirt, a blue jacket, blue jeans and headphones, police said. Police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in the case, and anyone with information is asked to call police at (510) 238-3326 or call 911.

Original Story By Bay City News—


The California Highway Patrol has issued an Amber Alert for a vehicle that was carjacked from the parking lot of an Oakland Safeway store with a man and a teenage girl inside Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Reports came in around 12:50 p.m. of a man with a knife seen entering a vehicle outside the Safeway at 4100 Redwood Road, in the Lincoln Square Shopping Center off of state Highway 13, and forcing the driver to drive away, police said.

That vehicle was initially reported to be an SUV.  However, Oakland police say that the vehicle may be a sedan.

The vehicle contained an elderly black man and a black girl believed to be about 13 years old, Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said.

The car is described as a red or burgundy 2001 Infiniti SUV with a California license plate number of 6JFM648. Anyone who sees the car should call 911 immediately, police said.

"We don't want anyone approaching this vehicle," Watson said. "We have information that the suspect is armed with a knife ... so we want to approach this vehicle very cautiously."

The suspect is described as a black man in his 40s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with salt-and-pepper hair. He weighs about 165 pounds and was wearing a green shirt, a blue jacket, blue jeans and headphones, police said.

Just before the carjacking, the suspect was inside the Safeway and was apparently trying to steal something, Watson said. He then fled the store and approached the SUV with the knife, she said.

Police don't yet know whether he stole anything from the Safeway. Watson said multiple customers and employees witnessed the theft attempt, and others outside saw the carjacking.  

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