Antioch gas station standoff ends, hostages released

Police units surrounded an Antioch gas station where a carjack suspect was holding hostages Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Police units surrounded an Antioch gas station where a carjack suspect was holding hostages Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Photo: Scott Mullin Photo: Scott Mullin Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Antioch gas station standoff ends, hostages released 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Two hostages were released and an armed carjacking suspect was taken away in cuffs after a tense standoff with dozens of officers at an Antioch gas station Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Officers from multiple agencies surrounded the Arco on Contra Loma Boulevard with guns drawn before 1 p.m. after a 35-year-old Newark man ran into the market and held two people hostage, following a police chase around the East Bay, said Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando.

Several streets and freeway off-ramps were closed during the confrontation, said California Highway Patrol Officer John Fransen.

The man, who was not immediately identified, had carjacked an employee around 11 a.m. at Mike Rose’s Auto Body, about 2 miles away on Auto Center Drive, a manager at the shop said.

The manager, who did not want to be identified by name, said the suspect had slammed into the back of a parked car in front of the shop, jumped out of his car, pulled out a gun and carjacked the employee.

Police tracked the victim’s cell phone inside the carjacked car and learned that the suspect was in Concord, Cantando said.

The driver led police on a chase back east, through Antioch, Brentwood and Pittsburg, prompting pursuing officers to back off out of concern for public safety, Cantando said. A CHP helicopter followed the driver, who tried to carjack another woman near the Arco after getting in a collision, police said.

A responding CHP officer closed in on the man and fired one shot after the suspect pointed his gun at the officer, Cantando said. The suspect was apparently not struck.

The man then ran into the market at the Arco, where he held the two people hostage, officials said. Hostage negotiators were speaking with the suspect before he released one of the hostages around 3 p.m.

A little more than half an hour later, the suspect released the second hostage and came out of the gas station with his hands up. The suspect has a criminal history that includes drugs, car theft and burglary, Cantando sid.

Kim Luckett, 46, was walking near her home with her husband and 3-year-old son when she witnessed some of the violence. She said the suspect had fired upon officers before they returned fire.

Luckett said she hit the ground, covering her son. She said the man attempted to get into four cars before heading inside the Arco.

“It was horrible. It was the scariest moment in the world,” she said. “Especially with your 3-year-old with you. Bullets don’t have no name.”

Evan Sernoffsky and Hamed Aleaziz are San Francisco Chronicle

staff writers.

E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @haleaziz