CONCORD — A 24-year-old man has been charged with robbing a local store owner, in an incident where the 72-year-old victim was run over by his assailants’ car as they made off with $7,000 worth of cigarette cartons, court records show.
Police describe them as a band of determined robbers who followed a man and his wife from a wholesale tobacco supplier in San Leandro to a parking lot in Concord. When the victims opened their trunk, two men swooped in and grabbed three cartons of cigarettes, dropping one as they ran to a Buick. The getaway driver ran over the victim’s leg during a struggle, authorities said.
The defendant was charged with robbery, assault, and elder abuse. He has bailed out of jail and is set to have a preliminary hearing on Feb. 6, records show.
Police say they are investigating the man’s possible link to similar robberies, including a $15,000 robbery in San Bernardino County where the victim was trailed for 50 miles before being robbed for cigarettes.