OAKLAND — Authorities now believe that two former employees of GardaWorld armored truck services plotted to rob one of their former colleagues, resulting in a Sept. 7 shooting that left a 60-year-old employee dead.
Artemio Torres, 27, has now been charged with working with Akbar Bey, also 27, to rob the GardaWorld truck at the Kaiser building in San Leandro. During the robbery, authorities allege Bey — who was arrested on murder charges in October — shot his former colleague John Mendez in the back of the head, before making off with thousands in cash.
Torres allegedly fled the state, traveling as far as Ohio and Indiana, after the robbery, according to police. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Police say Torres is listed as an Oakland resident but has ties to the Vacaville area. His girlfriend was also arrested during the homicide investigation, but released after police determined she’d been duped into helping them after the crime, and was unaware of their alleged involvement.
Both Torres and Bey were fired from GardaWorld after allegations surfaced they were embezzling funds, police alleged in court records. Bey is in Santa Rita Jail on a no-bail hold. He has pleaded not guilty.
Police linked Torres to the crime based on cell phone records, and because Bey allegedly ran into Torres’ black Honda and fled the area immediately after the shooting. In a probable cause statement, authorities also alleged that Bey and Torres conducted surveillance of the truck’s drop-offs in anticipation of the robbery.
Bey and Mendez had been partners prior to Bey’s termination from the company, according to court records.
The shooting was one of two armored car robbery-homicides to occur in the East Bay within a 30-day span, the other being a Sept. 23 incident in Oakland where four men allegedly attempted to rob a Brinks truck. In that shooting, a Brinks employee killed one of the suspected robbers and wounded another, before being shot by one of the robbers, police say. The Brinks employee survived and a Vallejo man was arrested and charged with murder.
Source: www.mercurynews.com