American Canyon police arrest 3 Antioch men suspected in 7-Eleven armed robberies
AMERiCAN CANYON – Police in American Canyon arrested three men from Antioch early Thursday morning suspected of robbing two 7-Eleven stores.
Around 1 a.m., the Vacaville Police Department advised that a red Chevrolet Impala had just been used to carry out an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven store there and was last seen heading to American Canyon.
American Canyon police officers began to look for the Impala and located it parked next to a 7-Eleven on Rio Del Mar near state Highway 29. The car was unoccupied, but men who matched the suspects' descriptions were inside the store and it appeared that a robbery was in progress, police said.
The officer placed a tire deflation device under the Impala to deter the suspects' exit before more police could arrive.
The three men left the convenience store and encountered American Canyon police, who ordered them to stop and get on the ground. One suspect, 19-year-old Younger Sampson, complied and was arrested but the other two suspects fled, police said.
The fleeing men, identified as 19-year-old Jaharri Wheatley and 20-year-old Deavion Ivory, led officers on a chase, with police alleging that Wheatley reached into his waistband "as if he was grabbing a firearm" as he ran.
Wheatley was able to circle back to the parked Impala, kick away the tire deflation device and drive away, police said.
Ivory was eventually found hiding in a nearby creek near the 7-Eleven.
Napa County sheriff's deputies and a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew joined in on a pursuit of Wheatley as he fled south through American Canyon. On Flosden Road, Wheatley crashed into a center median but got out of his car and continued on foot, police said.
American Canyon police then dispatched its K-9 unit "Brick" and the dog apprehended Wheatley. Police allege the suspect "actively resisted and struggled" with the dog and officers when they attempted to arrest him and that a loaded, unregistered ghost gun fell to the ground from his hands during the altercation.
Wheatley was arrested and given medical attention, police said. He was booked into the Napa County Department of Corrections on suspicion of felony reckless evading; felony threats of violence to police officers keeping them from doing their jobs; carrying a loaded, concealed firearm; and using a firearm during the commission of a felony.
As of Thursday afternoon, Wheatley remained in jail on $50,000 bail. Ivory and Sampson were taken to the Vacaville Police Department.