Oakley Police Make Arrest After Vehicle Pursuit Results in Crash

The Oakley Police Department arrested Brandon Gentry, 32 of Stockton/Antioch, after a vehicle pursuit resulted in a crash. A loaded firearm was found in the vehicle and he had two grams of suspected methamphetamine and $4,200 in cash.

Here is what Oakley Police said:

On September 28, 2023 at 5:53PM officers Burton and Williams of the Oakley Police Department Special Services Team were engaged in traffic enforcement duties on Laurel Road.

Officers Williams and Burton attempted to stop a vehicle for having no license plates and tinted windows that were too dark. The vehicle turned onto Harvest Circle and stopped in the driveway of a residence.  Officer Williams drove behind the vehicle and contacted the driver who had also exited his vehicle.  Officer Williams had the driver get back into his vehicle which he complied with, while being argumentative.

The driver then put his vehicle in reverse and drove at Officer Burton, who was standing at the rear of the vehicle.  Officer Burton was able to duck out of the way of the vehicle backing towards him at an accelerated pace.

The vehicle fled west on Laurel Road at a high rate of speed and our officers began pursuing the vehicle. The driver drove at excessive speeds and crossed over into the opposing lanes of traffic on Laurel Road at Hampton Court with no oncoming traffic. The vehicle corrected back into the proper lanes and it was determined to stay involved in the pursuit while remaining mindful and contemplative of threats to the public.

The suspect vehicle turned south on Empire Avenue and crossed Lone Tree Way fleeing into the City of Brentwood. The suspect vehicle again crossed over into opposing lanes of traffic and our supervisor ordered the pursuit to be terminated (meaning to stop our attempts to catch the vehicle). Simultaneous to our supervisor ordering the termination of the pursuit our officers advised the suspect vehicle corrected itself into the right lanes of traffic, had a flat tire and had crashed into a tree on Empire Avenue at Shady Willow Lane.

No other vehicles, motorists or pedestrians were involved in this collision.

The driver immediately fled on foot from the crash. Officer Williams and Officer Hernandez (who arrived to assist) gave chase after the suspect through a soft dirt field and caught him and then detained him with no use of force being applied other than tackling him to the ground. A passenger was also found to be in the vehicle and was suffering injuries due to the crash. The driver said he was epileptic and appeared to have a seizure after being detained.

We immediately summoned medical aid for the driver and the passenger. The driver was life flighted to the John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. The passenger was transported to a local hospital via ground ambulance with unknown injuries.

A loaded firearm was found in the vehicle and the vehicle was determined to be listed as a FELONY VEHICLE out of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office for evading police officers. The driver has been identified as Brandon Gentry (32, Stockton/Antioch). Two grams of suspected methamphetamine and $4,200 cash were located upon Gentry’s person. Gentry was placed under arrest and then admitted to the hospital. Gentry was released from our custody due to his medical status and our detectives will work on filing appropriate charges upon Gentry’s release from the hospital.

“Vehicle pursuits always deserve the highest degree of evaluation due to their inherently dangerous nature. Our officers and supervisors constantly determine the reason for why a pursuit is occurring, the severity of that reason, the necessity to bring that vehicle to a stop for those reasons and if those reasons warrant a pursuit. Other factors such as time of day, traffic patterns, length/distance of pursuit come into play as well. In this particular case the driver assaulted one of our officers by trying to run him over. Due to the vehicle having no license plates we were a bit hampered in being able to determine who the driver might be. When the driver started going the wrong way on the road with no traffic our officers began to prepare themselves to terminate the pursuit themselves. When the vehicle crossed into opposing traffic a bit later our supervisor immediately terminated the pursuit, it just so happened the suspect vehicle became disabled due to the crash at the same time and our officers were then able to chase after the suspect on foot with vehicle no longer being involved.

The fact that this vehicle turned out to be a wanted vehicle and a gun, illegal drugs and a large amount of cash were found to be associated with the suspect paints a fairly clear picture of the dangers to the general public linked to him.

I actually do have an injured officer as a result of this incident. Luckily the injuries are not life threatening and the officer has been treated and released and is awaiting further medical instructions. I am grateful the injuries are not worse than they are and I am grateful no other motorists were injured during this incident. If any further developments arise out of this case I will be sure to share them. Stay safe Oakley.”

~Chief Paul Beard

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