BART officer arrested in connection with New Year's Day shooting

Demian Bulwa, Leslie Fulbright,Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writers

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

(01-13) 21:36 PST Oakland -- Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform on New Year's Day, was arrested in Nevada today in connection with the shooting, The Chronicle has learned.

Mehserle, 27, was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nevada, said Deputy Steve Velez of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. The arrest was also confirmed by David Chai, chief of staff to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.

Mehserle was arrested in connection with an investigation by the Oakland Police Department into the shooting of Oscar Grant, 22. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said.

Douglas County sheriff's officials refused to disclose what crime Mehserle was accused of committing in the arrest warrant. Deputy Velez said Sheriff Ron P. Pierini would make a statement on Wednesday.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff was also expected to announce details of the arrest Wednesday.

Efforts to reach attorneys for Mehserle were unsuccessful.

The arrest comes on the eve of a scheduled protest at 4 p.m. Wednesday outside Oakland City Hall, the latest in a series of demonstrations in which BART has been accused of mishandling the shooting investigation.

On Monday, BART police turned over the results of their preliminary investigation to Orloff's office. The separate investigation by Oakland police was launched last week. The state Attorney General is also monitoring the case.

BART officers had detained Grant and several other passengers at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 1 as they investigated a fight aboard a train from San Francisco.

Grant was lying face-down when Mehserle pulled his service weapon from his holster and fired one shot into his back.

Mehserle resigned last Wednesday rather than answer questions from BART investigators.

His departure came the same day Grant was buried and a peaceful protest at the Fruitvale BART Station erupted into violence in downtown Oakland. Demonstrators set cars on fire and broke windows at dozens of businesses. By night's end, police arrested 105 people.

Chronicle Staff Writers Jaxon Van Derbeken and christopher heredia contributed to this report.