4 arrested in North Bay Lululemon store thefts while at Walnut Creek location
Four people were arrested after allegedly robbing Lululemon stores in Santa Rosa and Napa and attempting to return the stolen items at a Lululemon store in Walnut Creek, authorities said Friday.
The Walnut Creek Police Department said the thefts happened on Wednesday and that the store's retail loss prevention personnel alerted the officer at the Broadway Plaza shopping center of the incidents, including surveillance photos of the suspects and their vehicles.
The officer at Broadway Plaza also determined there was a likelihood the same suspects would be coming to the Walnut Creek location to return the stolen merchandise. At about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, several suspects were seen inside the Lululemon store at Broadway Plaza and officers arrested four people without incident.
The suspects were identified as 27-year-old Deoni Johnson Jr. of Sacramento, 24-year-old Darijanna Roberson of Reno, NV, 38-year-old Charles Allen Jr. of Fairfield, and 32-year-old Anthony Bradley II of Oakland.
Deoni Johnson and Darijanna Roberson were booked on charges of organized retail theft, possession of stolen property and conspiracy. Allen was charged with possession of burglary tools and a probation violation. Bradley was charged on an out-of-state warrant for being a fugitive.
They were being held at the Martinez Detention Facility. Walnut Creek Police asked anyone with information about the case to call the department at 925-943-5844 or the police tip line at 925-943-5865.
Earlier this month, police officers stopped an attempted smash-and-grab burglary in process at the Louis Vuitton store in Broadway Plaza after suspects rammed a stolen Land Rover into the front of the business. Approximately 15 suspects fled in four vehicles when officers arrived, one of which briefly led police on a chase on westbound Highway 24.
Stores in the Broadway Plaza shopping center have increasingly been targeted by thieves in the past few years. In November of 2021, a large group of suspects arrived in 25 vehicles and stormed the Nordstrom store just before closing time, taking an estimated $125,000 in merchandise. During the thefts, employees were also pepper-sprayed, kicked, punched and assaulted with a knife.
Following that and other robberies, Walnut Creek beefed up its police presence in the area, allotting $2 million over 18 months to add five officers to a new downtown beat, adding security cameras to the area, and flying a tethered drone over the shopping center.
The city also temporarily installed barriers on either end of Broadway Plaza Street after the Nordstrom robbery which prevented any cars from driving through the shopping district. The barriers were removed in March.
