Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...OAKLAND –The alleged driver of a stolen SUV that collided with an Oakland police vehicle last week — leaving two of the suspect’s passengers dead and the driver and the officer injured — has been charged with multiple criminal counts, including vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, according to authorities and court records.
The suspect, Jose Antunez, has 13 prior felony convictions, including nine for vehicle theft, according to court records. He was on parole for one of those convictions at the time of the collision.
In addition to the two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, Antunez, 35, was formally charged Monday with felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident that caused death, evading an officer causing death, vehicle theft and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving with bodily injury.
He was recently released from a hospital and was being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail.
The names of the two men killed in the collision still have not been released. The Oakland police officer has been released from the hospital.
The crash happened about 11:10 a.m. June 8 on East 12th Street at 29th Avenue in East Oakland.
Antunez and the two men killed were in a Chevy Tahoe that turned out to have been stolen in another city, authorities said. An Oakland Housing Authority police officer saw the vehicle driving erratically near 23rd Avenue and East 12th Street but did not know at the time it had been stolen. The officer tried to stop the SUV but when it sped away, they did not pursue it.
The SUV continued eastbound on East 12th Street, where it collided with the Oakland police SUV. The officer had no knowledge of the prior OHA involvement.
The Tahoe went out of control and rolled over. The two passengers were ejected and pronounced dead at the scene. Antunez got out of the wrecked vehicle and tried to flee on foot but was arrested by an OHA officer. He suffered broken bones and other injuries and was hospitalized.
According to court records, Antunez’s prior convictions range from 2015 to February 2025, the last being for a 2024 vehicle theft. In that case he pleaded no contest to vehicle theft, was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison, with 127 days credit for time already served, records show.
Check back for updates.