Driver charged with murder after stabbing van theft suspect
The alleged van thief survived but a woman who had been helping him steal packages did not make it, according to court papers.
A deliveryman was charged with murder and attempted murder Tuesday after stabbing an alleged van thief and his accomplice in Berkeley, court papers show.
The triple stabbing — the deliveryman was also stabbed — took place earlier this month in broad daylight, provoking concern and widespread confusion in the community.
Few details, including the name of the woman who was killed, have been released due to the ongoing investigation.
But, according to recent court papers, 31-year-old OnTrac driver Raymond Johnson is now facing serious charges.
Police wrote that the incident began Saturday, Jan. 18, sometime before 12:20 p.m. when Jalen Carr-Harris, 29, was captured on surveillance video stealing Johnson's van while Johnson was delivering a package inside a large apartment complex in Oakland.
Someone in a Hyundai sedan could be seen dropping off Carr-Harris before the auto theft, police wrote.
The Hyundai was later recovered near the homicide scene in Berkeley.
Police wrote that Johnson, the deliveryman, jumped on a Lyft rental bike after realizing his van was gone and tracked it about 7 miles from Oakland, just east of Lake Merritt, to southwest Berkeley.
When Johnson arrived on the block, he saw his delivery van parked, its doors open. Two people — a man and woman — were removing packages from it, police wrote.
Johnson called Berkeley police to tell them where he was and what had happened.
"Dispatch advised they heard arguing in the background of the phone call and the reporting party hung up," BPD wrote.
When Johnson confronted the woman, she stabbed him with a knife, Berkeley police wrote in court papers.
Johnson then pulled out his own knife and stabbed the woman, BPD wrote.
Then he stabbed Carr-Harris, who was in the driver's seat of the van trying to flee, authorities wrote.
Police noted that Johnson said he stabbed Carr-Harris after seeing him "pat his pants pockets as if he were looking for something."
As they responded to Johnson's phone call, police began getting more calls about a man in the same area who was bleeding from the legs.
One witness directed an arriving BPD officer down Burnett Street from Acton Street where officers found a woman on the ground next to a white delivery van, according to court papers. She was suffering from multiple stab wounds.
The woman was taken to Highland Hospital but later died. It became Berkeley's first homicide of the year.
Police found both men in the intersection at Russell and Acton streets near an address linked to Carr-Harris, according to court papers.
They were both taken to Highland Hospital and put in the ICU.
Emilie Raguso
The day after the stabbing, Carr-Harris was released from Highland Hospital, according to booking records.
He is now being held at Santa Rita Jail on more than $200,000 bail.
As of this week, Johnson remained at Highland Hospital receiving medical treatment.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Alameda County district attorney's office charged Johnson with murder and attempted murder in addition to assault with a deadly weapon, according to court records.
No arraignment date for him has yet been set, online records show.
Carr-Harris faces charges — but not from day of stabbing
Last week, the DA's office charged Carr-Harris with two separate felony cases related to prior incidents in Berkeley: a felony evasion case involving identity theft allegations on Jan. 11, and a residential burglary case from October involving the theft of about $8,000 in tools.
On Jan. 11, police wrote, Carr-Harris pulled up at Grayson and Seventh streets in a stolen Nissan and was spotted "removing packages from inside" the car, BPD wrote.
When officers arrived to investigate, however, Carr-Harris fled in a different stolen car occupied by a woman, authorities said.
When Berkeley police tried to stop him, he escaped by refusing to pull over, according to court papers.
When police searched the stolen Nissan that had been abandoned, they found more than "100 articles of mail, numerous stolen packages, ID cards, and bank cards," police wrote in charging papers.
At the time of the stabbing, police wrote, Carr-Harris had multiple outstanding warrants, was on probation and had been released on his own recognizance ("OR") after being charged with vehicle theft.
"Carr-Harris violated his probation and OR release terms in the commission of all of these crimes," BPD wrote Jan. 19 in charging papers.
As of publication time, he did not appear to have been charged with any crimes related to the Jan. 18 stabbing or other events of that day.
It was unknown whether additional charges are pending.
Carr-Harris did, however, have five felony convictions listed in court papers: for robbery in 2014 and 2019, for robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2020, and for felony stalking in November 2023.
All five of the convictions — including a 2014 case involving the robbery of a Cal student — resulted in probation, according to charging papers.
Last week, Carr-Harris' defense attorney asked Judge Elena Condes to release him on his own recognizance but she denied the request (which the prosecution had opposed).
"The court has tried less restrictive alternatives and they were unsuccessful," one court note reads.
Carr-Harris is set to return to court next week.
The Scanner will continue to follow the story.
