9-Hour Standoff Ends in Peaceful Surrender to Oakley Police

At approximently 4:30 am Thursday, the Oakley Police Department responded to a disturbance call on Kale Court of someone attempting to break into a residence.

When police arrived, they learned that Michael Randazzo, 41 of Oakley, was the male who broke into the home and was already on the roof. He was also identified as the son of the homeowner.

According to Oakley Police, prior to police arrival, Randazzo tried to break into master bedroom window. Then, after mom called 9-1-1,  he went to the roof.  Police gave him several commands to come down but did not comply. He then proceeded to begin to remove the roof, shingles, sheeting, insulation, sheet-rock while also making a threat to his mother. He cut off power to the house which caused his mothers oxygen apparatus to stop operating.

Police said because of the amount of damage caused by Randazzo, the parents have been displaced as the home was being red-tagged.

During the 9-hour standoff, on two occasions less than lethal force was used as police fired pepperspray while also shooting less lethal ammuniition at him after he retrieved a riffle case out of the attic. Once they shot him with the rounds, they ordered him to stay on the opposite side of the roof or come down. Upon retrieving the rifled boxes, they were deemed empty.

By 1:10 pm, Randazzo peacefully surrender to Oakley Police after a female he requested show up, was escorted by police to the scene.  He was booked for burglary, terrorist threats, felony vandalism, resisting arrest, elder abuse

According to Chief Paul Beard, they were lucky to have a fully staff police department and their new special services team available to help. Due to the length of the incident, it touched on graveyard shift and day shift. San Francisco Police also had an assault suspect in custody which police had to send a unit to pickup.

Randazzo is known to Oakley Police.

On the same property, a couple months back he allegedly set a vehicle on fire and due to long standing issues the family had to obtain a restraining order. Randazzo was also picked up in the delta by a CHP helicopter for another incident.

Update: OAKLEY POLICE DEPARTMENT MAKES ARREST AFTER MAN DESTROYS A ROOFTOP

On July 13, 2023 at 4:37AM Oakley Police Officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of Kale Court on the report of a man trying to break into the house. Our officers arrived within a few minutes and after speaking with the victims our officers were able to quickly identify the man as Michael Randazzo (41, Oakley) and he was the son of the elderly occupants of the home.

Our officers discovered Randazzo on top of the house and determined he was attempting to gain entry into the home by tearing into it through the roof with his bare hands. Randazzo had removed a large portion of shingles from the roof and he had taken sections of plywood roof sheeting off of the rafters. Due to the damage he caused Randazzo was able to gain access to the now open attic and he was able to stomp large portions of the ceiling sheetrock down into the house. The kitchen and some other rooms were completely exposed to the elements.

At some point Randazzo was able to shut the power off to the house disabling an oxygen producing medical device needed by his mother for health reasons. Randazzo also verbally threatened his mother with physical harm. Our officers were able to make sure the victims got out of the house and they were later checked into a local hotel.

Our officers realized there was no conventional way to remove Randazzo from the roof without risking undue risk to themselves, or Randazzo, so we chose to attempt de-escalation techniques in an attempt to have him surrender himself off of the roof.

Randazzo did not positively respond to the de-escalation techniques and continued to dismantle portions of the roof. At one point Randazzo removed a portion of the roof that allowed him access to another area of the attic. Randazzo began removing long plastic cases, from that portion of the attic, that are used to store and transport rifles in. Operating on the great possibility the cases did contain rifles our officers deployed pepper spray upon Randazzo and it had a very limited impact on him. Randazzo continued to pull rifle cases out of the attic so we escalated our force upon him and shot him twice with a 40mm kinetic energy device. These two combined applications of force had an impact on Randazzo and he stopped manipulating the rifle cases and he went to the other side of the roof and stayed far away from where the rifle cases were located for the duration of this incident.

Our officers attempted to coax Randazzo into a safe surrender several times throughout this ordeal, even offering him water due to the heat. Officer Rod County, who is a trained Oakley Police Negotiator, arrived at the scene and established a rapport with Randazzo. Officer County was able to determine Randazzo had a great deal of angst built up against his parents. Eventually Officer County was able to diffuse Randazzo and work out a safe surrender with him that included no more damages being caused to the home. Randazzo surrendered himself into our custody around 1:10PM.

Randazzo was booked for burglary, felony vandalism, criminal threats, elder abuse and obstruction of peace officers.

“This was an absolutely horrible crime committed against an elderly couple by their own son. This was also a situation that was handled differently than it would have been handled during earlier phases of my career. Contemporary police work demands de-escalation efforts whenever possible. My officers made sure the victims were safe from physical harm by making sure they were removed from the situation. Most of everything else done by the suspect in this case was a property crime- a very expensive property crime. When the suspect escalated the situation by posing a risk to the general public, and the officers themselves, my officers responded with the appropriate force of chemical agents and kinetic energy munitions.

Our investigators will package this case together and deliver it to the District Attorneys Office. I highly encourage everybody who is involved in the future movements of this case to look at all available evidence and consider the emotional trauma of the victims and the financial hardship they are now under. I am urging that the suspect in this case be held to the highest degree of accountability possible.

As a side note I would like to highlight the fact this investigation would have brought all other law enforcement operations to a halt if it occurred last year when we had compromised staffing. Today all other calls for service and operational matters were met while this investigation unfolded and we were able to fluidly pass several critical responsibilities of this investigation between our own internal entities. A community that supports appropriate funding for their law-enforcement services is a safer community and I appreciate all of the support my Department receives from the community, City Council and City Management. Collectively we do make a critical difference.

Stay safe Oakley.”

~Chief Paul Beard