Around 11:15 a.m. yesterday, a man driving a large stolen van, with two passengers inside, collided with an Oakland Police Department officer at the corner of East 12th Street and 29th Avenue, leaving the two passengers dead and the driver and an officer in the hospital, police said.
According to the OPD, and confirmed by witnesses at the scene, an Oakland Housing Authority Police Department officer “attempted to initiate an enforcement stop” of a vehicle driving recklessly in East Oakland. The OPD said the housing police officer observed the driver fail to yield and flee at high speed, but did not engage in a pursuit.
“The vehicle continued driving recklessly and struck an uninvolved OPD vehicle traveling northbound on 29th Avenue at East 12th Street,” said an OPD spokesperson.
Laura Bursch, a communications officer for the Oakland Housing Authority Police Department, told The Oaklandside that the “OHAPD officer immediately deactivated his emergency lights and siren and did not engage in a vehicle pursuit.” The OPD said the “vehicle was later confirmed to be stolen,” which Bursch confirmed. It’s not clear whether the officer who initiated the stop attempt knew at the time that the vehicle was stolen…