Nine charged in burglary spree that ended in Oakland cop’s death

OAKLAND Nearly two years after Oakland police Officer Tuan Le was gunned down while pursuing persons of interest in a series of armed burglaries at a marijuana grow facility nine people are in custody and facing a slew of federal charges prosecutors declared Related Articles Man followed woman to Berkeley with car full of sex toys condoms crack pipes Taser and a gun police say Judge orders new trial in decade-old murder scenario as scrutiny of Oakland detective grows Indicted Bay Area real estate mogul must give up deed to East Bay house East Bay woman who embezzled million from charity gets years in federal prison Rapper ChaiBenjii appears poised to beat his Oakland murder event Seven of the defendants Allen Brown Sebron Russell Marquise Cooper Janiero Booth Jowaun Jones Shawn McGee and Salvador Munguia are charged with conspiring to distribute possessing with intent to distribute and attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than marijuana plants according to the U S Attorney s Office Brown and Russell are also charged with discharging and brandishing a firearm in connection with a drug-trafficking crime The remaining defendants Jasmine Kumar and Felicia Sanders are charged with accessory after the fact They all made their initial appearances Thursday in U S District Court in San Francisco The charges stem from three armed burglaries of a marijuana grow facility at Embarcadero between the late evening hours of Dec and the early morning hours of Dec according to an indictment filed Nov and unsealed Thursday The indictment alleges Brown Russell Cooper and an unnamed co-conspirator organized and carried out the burglaries They also recruited Booth Jones McGee and Munguia for the final burglary which happened around a m prosecutors revealed More than marijuana plants were allegedly stolen from the facility prosecutors explained Le and his partner were among the officers dispatched to the third burglary The pair who were working undercover at the time arrived to find the subjects leaving the facility The unnamed co-conspirator pointed a black pistol at the officers unmarked truck and got into an Infiniti which was among several suspect vehicles that then left the scene according to the indictment Prosecutors identified Brown as the driver of the Infiniti Le and his partner followed one of the suspect vehicles a Chevrolet Malibu along Embarcadero As they approached the on-ramp to southbound Interstate Brown pulled behind the officers and the unnamed co-conspirator who was in the front customer seat of the Infiniti fired more than shots the indictment alleges Le was hit in the head and later died of his injuries at an area hospital prosecutors explained Following Le s death Kumar the shooter s girlfriend and Sanders the shooter s mother helped him elude bureaucrats including by furnishing him with a one-way plane ticket prosecutors explained If convicted of their respective charges Brown and Russell face up to life in prison Cooper Booth Jones McGee and Munguia up to years in prison and Kumar and Sanders up to years in prison Chosen of the defendants are scheduled to appear for bail proceedings early next week Check back for updates