Bay City News Service
Four people have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with an attempted armed home invasion at a Pittsburg apartment that turned fatal, a police lieutenant said Wednesday.
Around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, a resident of the 100 block of Leland Lane heard someone manipulating his front door. He looked through the peephole, and saw a man trying to break into the apartment, Lt. Ron Raman said. Raman said the resident, a 29-year-old man, headed to a back bedroom to grab a gun. When he returned, the burglar had made his way in the front door and immediately grappled with the resident.
While the two men struggled, the resident noticed that the suspect also had a gun, which police later confirmed to be a replica firearm, Raman said. During the fight, both weapons fell to the ground. Fearing for his safety, the resident grabbed a knife and stabbed the intruder in the neck, killing him, Raman said.
Emergency responders arrived within minutes and pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. A Contra Costa County deputy coroner identified the man Wednesday as a 54-year-old Robert Lindsey. Lindsey, a Pittsburg resident, had an extensive criminal history that includes burglaries and thefts.
Raman said interviews conducted since the deadly home invasion revealed the break-in had been staged by the resident's wife, identified as Charmaine Leon Guerrero Taijeron, 28.
Taijeron and her husband are separated. The husband had plans to move out of the apartment that the couple shared with their young children, according to Raman.
Raman said Taijeron conspired with her boyfriend, identified as Matt Terrell Parker, 22, as well as Charles Edward Parker, 21, and Jimmy Watkins Salgado, 23 — all Pittsburg residents — to stage the burglary in an effort to get the victim to move out sooner.
Taijeron supplied Lindsey with a key to enter the apartment Tuesday, he said. All four suspects were arrested on suspicion of murder in accordance with California's provocative-act doctrine, which states that a participant in a crime may be held accountable if an accomplice's actions result in death, Raman said. The suspects were taken to county jail where they are being held
on $1 million bail.
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