Antioch man arrested Thursday for armed robberies in Rio Vista, El Cerrito

By Rio Vista Police Department

At around 1:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon RVPD officers responded to a report of an armed robbery that occurred in the parking lot of the Family Dollar store on Highway 12.  The victims had agreed to meet the suspect to sell him a cellular phone. The suspect used a handgun to rob the victims of an Apple iPhone.

Earlier in the morning the suspect, Vandrick Jones, age 22, from Antioch, a parolee with a lengthy history of robbery and gun charges forced a female he met online to drive him around the Bay Area at gunpoint where we know he committed at least one other armed robbery in El Cerrito.

As the suspect and his victim attempted to flee Rio Vista, they were spotted on Highway 12 by Chief Dailey.  A pursuit ensued through downtown with Jones forcing the female to keep driving until they hit a dead end in the school bus corporation yard.  The female was rescued unharmed and evaluated by Rio Vista Fire and Medic Ambulance.  Jones jumped fences and hid in a back yard on Tahoe Drive.  RVPD worked with the Rio Vista High School and a lockdown was implemented to insure the safety of the students due to the proximity to the school.  The Alert system work very well.

Solano County Sheriff’s K9 and patrol deputies showed up in force along with a CHP helicopter to assist RVPD and a perimeter was secured, keeping the suspect confined until the Sheriff’s K9 team found him hiding under a children’s swimming pool.  Jones was taken into custody and booked for kidnapping, armed robbery, felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition and a parole hold.  The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force in Solano County will be joining our investigation.

RVPD wishes to give our thanks to Solano County for their assistance today!  The teamwork between both agencies was outstanding.


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