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 suspects in a series of armed burglaries at a marijuana grow facility, nine people are in custody and facing a slew of federal charges, prosecutors said.

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 100 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 499 Embarcadero between the late evening hours of Dec. 28 and the early morning hours of Dec. 29, 2023, according to an indictment filed Nov. 20 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 4 a.m., prosecutors said.

More than 100 marijuana plants were allegedly stolen from the facility, prosecutors said.

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 suspects 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 880, Brown pulled behind the officers and the unnamed co-conspirator, who was in the front passenger seat of the Infiniti, fired more than 20 shots, the indictment alleges.

Le was hit in the head and later died of his injuries at an area hospital, prosecutors said.

Following Le’s death, Kumar, the shooter’s girlfriend, and Sanders, the shooter’s mother, helped him elude authorities, including by furnishing him with a one-way plane ticket, prosecutors said.

If convicted of their respective charges, Brown and Russell face up to life in prison; Cooper, Booth, Jones, McGee and Munguia up to 40 years in prison; and Kumar and Sanders up to 15 years in prison.

Some of the defendants are scheduled to appear for bail proceedings early next week.

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