Murder charges filed against man accused in deadly wrong-way crash on I-580, El Cerrito smoke shop burglary
Murder charges were filed by the Contra Costa County district attorney on Thursday against one of the men allegedly involved in a fatal wrong-way freeway collision following a burglary in El Cerrito.
Patrick Owens Scheckells, a 34-year-old Oakland resident, is facing charges for allegedly driving the wrong way on Interstate Highway 580, where he is accused of colliding with two other vehicles, killing one of the other drivers.
Scheckells and another man, Andre Lamar Alberty, a 56-year-old San Francisco resident, are also facing charges of second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property for allegedly robbing the Tobacco Outlet store at 10170 San Pablo Ave., in El Cerrito.
A pursuit by El Cerrito Police officers followed the burglary, at which point the truck used in the burglary entered the interchange between Interstate Highway 80 and Interstate Highway 580, and suddenly changed direction, winding up going eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-580.
The pursuit was called off at that point, but the truck was then involved in the fatal collision at about 4:30 a.m. The collision remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
Last week, the Alameda County coroner's office identified that the victim in the BMW was 57-year-old Lafayette resident Lee David Weiner.
The store was unoccupied and closed at the time and nobody was injured in the burglary, which is being investigated by the El Cerrito Police Department.
