Police arrested a Berkeley man Friday in connection with a helicopter chase from Antioch that resulted in the recovery of a loaded, high-capacity gun, authorities report.
On Friday afternoon, Berkeley police were notified of a chase entering the city from Highway 13, BPD said Monday in a prepared statement. The driver was fleeing from the scene of a felony crime in Antioch identified as some type of assault with a deadly weapon, BPD said. The Contra Costa County sheriff’s office helicopter had picked up the chase, which entered Berkeley around 3:15 p.m.
Authorities believed the driver, identified as 23-year-old Keenan Hicks-Brown, was heading for a Berkeley address, BPD said.
According to BPD, Hicks-Brown parked in the Southside neighborhood near the UC Berkeley campus — near Haste and Fulton streets — and officers, including BPD’s bike patrol, responded to the area to search for him. Bike officers quickly spotted Hicks-Brown attempting to flee the area on foot, BPD said.
Police caught up with Hicks-Brown on Dwight Way, between Shattuck Avenue and Fulton Street, tackled him to the ground and arrested him on suspicion of resisting arrest and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm with a large-capacity magazine, BPD said.
Hicks-Brown is no longer in custody, according to Alameda County booking records, so no further information was immediately available about the case or future court dates.
Berkeleyside has asked Antioch police for more information what prompted police to pursue Hicks-Brown in the first place. There had been no response as of publication time.
Update, 2:35 p.m. Antioch PD said Monday, in a Facebook post, that the incident began in that city Friday just after 2:50 p.m. with a 911 call about an aggravated assault with a motor vehicle: “A male was reportedly ramming his Honda into another car occupied by a female. While responding, the caller reported the male was chasing the other car in his Honda.” An Antioch police officer found the driver and tried to pull him over, APD wrote, “but instead, the driver began fleeing and tried to ram another police vehicle in the area. Officers pursued the Honda onto westbound Highway 4 and requested assistance from the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office Air Unit (‘STARR3’), who immediately launched from Buchanan Field Airport in Concord. APD dispatchers coordinated with STARR3 to take over the pursuit from the air, which allowed our officers to back out.”
