Oakland Amber Alert Canceled; Police Say Reported Carjacking, Kidnapping Unfounded
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - The California Highway Patrol has deactivated an Amber Alert for two people believed carjacked and kidnapped by a knife-wielding man in Oakland. Police called that portion of Tuesday's incident unfounded and that the initial suspect and his two purported victims all knew one another.
Meanwhile, police have located a person of interest sought after the incident, 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 with a series of changing stories that took place at a Safeway Store at 4100 Redwood Road around 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, 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 on Wednesday 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.
"Investigators are looking at what those crimes will be," Watson said at a news conference on Wednesday. "We know that we had a theft from a store, but we also have information that the suspect was armed with a knife and did make some threats. We would probably change that to a different crime category."
Watson added that police do not believe the female involved is in danger.
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