{"id":4666,"date":"2026-07-16T12:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4666"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:08:17","slug":"oakland-man-sentenced-to-nearly-seven-years-for-carjacking-evading-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4666","title":{"rendered":"Oakland man sentenced to nearly seven years for carjacking, evading police"},"content":{"rendered":"
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REDWOOD CITY \u2014 A 27-year-old Oakland man was sentenced Monday to nearly seven years in prison for fleeing police from the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge to San Francisco and carjacking a vehicle with the driver still inside before crashing outside and fleeing into one of the city\u2019s biggest venues, authorities said.<\/p>\n

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Jacob Shacarr Lawrence pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of fleeing a police officer\u2019s vehicle causing serious injury, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Criminal Presiding Judge Jeffrey B. Jackson sentenced Lawrence to five years in prison for the carjacking count, then a consecutive sentence of one year and eight months for the count of fleeing an officer, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do think that the sentence is appropriate in this case,\u201d said Shin-Mee Chang, chief deputy district attorney for the San Mateo County District Attorney\u2019s Office. \u201cWe believe it\u2019s proportional to the crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public should be very mindful that vehicles can be weaponized and we should all obey traffic laws,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Lawrence was originally also charged with kidnapping a person during a carjacking, fleeing the scene of a collision and reckless evasion of a police officer, as well as an enhancement for the incident occurring while he was out on bail in another case, prosecutors said. Those charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offered these counts because we felt that these counts were strong, meaning we could prove them at trial, and that these two charges adequately labeled the conduct and gave us an adequate sentencing range,\u201d Chang added.<\/p>\n

Robert Byers, Lawrence\u2019s defense attorney, said that the case\u2019s resolution was a \u201cplea deal in the classic sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThese are always compromises,\u201d Byers said. \u201cHe pled to the more serious (charges), both of which are strikes under California law.<\/p>\n

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\u201c(Lawrence is) just resigned,\u201d he added. \u201cHe thought it was the most intelligent decision he could make. I don\u2019t think anybody is ever happy going to prison, but you have to make tough choices and this is one he had to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just before noon on Sept. 28, 2023, Lawrence fled from Oakland police officers across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, driving his vehicle at speeds up to 100 mph, prosecutors said. The vehicle he was driving had been involved in a homicide, Chang said, noting that that does not mean he was connected to that homicide.<\/p>\n

He then crashed his vehicle, causing a three-car collision on the bridge, prosecutors said. That collision caused a minor laceration to the face of one driver, Chang added.<\/p>\n

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The collision left Lawrence\u2019s vehicle disabled, prompting him to enter a passing Nissan van, prosecutors said. Lawrence ordered the vehicle\u2019s driver to take him to San Francisco, to which the victim \u201cfearfully complied.\u201d Lawrence continually shouted at the victim to drive his vehicle faster.<\/p>\n

The Nissan was pursued by a California Highway Patrol vehicle, which stopped it on Highway 101 near Dore Avenue, prosecutors said. During the stop, the victim fled the vehicle and Lawrence took over driving.<\/p>\n

Lawrence continued on to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where he drove over another person\u2019s foot, causing a fracture, prosecutors said. He then crashed the van and fled into the Moscone Center, where a conference was underway.<\/p>\n

Lawrence hid in a locked office until police broke through a wall to arrest him, prosecutors said. Lawrence was also found to be in possession of the victim\u2019s cellphone.<\/p>\n

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Lawrence will next appear in court Sept. 22 for a restitution hearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I don’t think anybody is ever happy going to prison,” the defendant’s lawyer said, “but you have to make tough choices and this is one he had to make.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOakland man sentenced to nearly seven years for carjacking, evading police - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4666\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oakland man sentenced to nearly seven years for carjacking, evading police - 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