Berkeley police detectives have identified the driver who ran over a homeless woman on the sidewalk as he fled from a UCPD officer Monday, but he has been “able to elude capture” and is “armed and dangerous,” authorities announced Saturday.
Police identified the man as 29-year-old Alexander McGee of Oakland, said BPD spokesman Officer Byron White.
According to the Berkeley Police Department, the incident began Monday at about 10:30 a.m. when an officer from the University of California Police Department saw a man in a vehicle violently assaulting a female passenger who was screaming. According to UCPD, the officer “approached to intervene and the vehicle fled the area.” After a short vehicle pursuit, the driver ran over a 58-year-old woman on the sidewalk at 811 University Ave. then sped off onto the freeway. As of Saturday, authorities said they still cannot release the name of the woman who was killed because they have been unable to find her relatives.
On Friday, BPD officers searched two North Oakland locations for McGee “but he was able to elude capture,” BPD said in a prepared statement. In addition to two felony Contra Costa County warrants from 2018 for evading police and burglary, McGee is wanted on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run causing death, felony domestic violence and probation violation in connection with the incident Monday.
“Based on the severity of these crimes and his previous history, Alexander McGee is considered Armed and Dangerous,” according to the BPD statement. “McGee knows that he is wanted and has been known to flee or fight police.”
Police ask anyone who sees McGee, who is 5 feet 6 and 150 pounds, to call 911 immediately.
White told Berkeleyside shortly after publication that police did find the car from Monday’s hit-and-run in Oakland on Friday. They have sought a warrant to investigate it.
White said police consider the woman who was in McGee’s car to be a victim of domestic violence and that she may be a victim of human trafficking as well. He said he could not share any additional information about her given the dynamics of the situation.
Police say they hope McGee will see Saturday’s police alert and come in of his own volition.
“The best-case scenario is that he turns himself in,” White said. “Hopefully he’ll do that so we can bring this to a quick conclusion.”
According to Alameda County criminal records reviewed by Berkeleyside, McGee has faced numerous felony and misdemeanor charges related to domestic violence, stalking, firearm possession, resisting arrest, burglary and drug sales dating back to 2009. His parole was revoked repeatedly over the years as a result of new violations, according to records online.
Authorities have said little about how Monday’s pursuit unfolded, but a driver in the immediate area, who spoke to Berkeleyside on condition of anonymity, said the UCPD officer used lights but no siren during the brief chase. If true, that appears to be at odds with UCPD’s vehicle pursuit policy. The campus has not commented on that aspect of the investigation.
Berkeleyside requested police dashcam footage from UCPD through a Public Records Act request, but UCPD said “there are no materials available at this time as the case is still under investigation.” Authorities have not said whether dashcam footage exists in the case.
Berkeleyside learned this week that, on the day before her death, police had checked repeatedly on the woman who was killed because people had seen her wrapped in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk and were concerned about her. According to BPD, the woman said she was all right and “did not want or need assistance.”
Police ask anyone with additional information to call BPD’s homicide division at 510-981-5741.
Note: Berkeleyside spoke to BPD shortly after publication and added some additional context to the story. Berkeleyside also added information after publication about McGee’s criminal record in Alameda County.
