Man and woman charged with setting up San Leandro drug dealer who was shot during robbery

SAN LEANDRO — Two East Bay residents have been charged with shooting a local drug dealer during an attempted home invasion robbery, court records show.

Danny Loun, 35, and Tien Hoang, 33, were charged with attempted robbery in concert, assault, and residential burglary, and Loun was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show. The two are both in Santa Rita Jail without bail, and set to enter a plea on Sept. 9.

The charges were filed more than a year after the victim, a San Leandro resident, was shot in the abdomen during an attempted home invasion robbery on 141st Avenue, according to police. He fired his own gun back at the robbers, and while he survived, the incident led to a police raid of his home and the discovery of more alleged crimes involving his across-the-street neighbor, court records say.

Police say there were three suspected robbers and a getaway driver. A third man, identified in court records as a 33-year-old Oakland resident, was initially charged with the group but prosecutors have already dropped his case “in the interest of justice,” according to court records. Another “primary suspect” was arrested on Aug. 8, but that person cooperated and identified both Loun and the 33-year-old as cohorts, authorities said.

Police describe Loun as one of the gunmen and Hoang as the getaway driver. Hoang — a relative of Loun’s girlfriend — had a “personal relationship” with the victim and is believed to have helped set him up. In a police interview, she admitted to driving the robbers away in a BMW but denied planning or knowing about the robbery in advance, according to court records.

The suspects were identified through the BMW, which was rented to Loun’s girlfriend, according to court records. Police say they reviewed footage gleaned from the cameras on a nearby parked Tesla and nearby license plate readers to identify the BMW as the suspects’ car. Hoang was listed as one of the drivers in the rental agreement, authorities allege.

After the shootout, police searched the San Leandro home and found guns and drugs stockpiled in the backyard, including packaged cocaine. They also returned last July and seized the victim’s phone, discovering eight text conversations with his across the street neighbor about buying and selling guns.

Now the neighbor, Adrian Dantoc, 35, is facing gun possession charges. Court records say that in 2012, Dantoc was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for attempted murder, stemming from a 2008 quadruple shooting at a bar in Hayward. Dantoc was shot in the leg by a security guard during the incident, according to media reports.