Two men armed with handguns robbed a victim at gunpoint outside the Cobblestone Apartments on Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon on Tuesday, then sped off in a silver sedan — a getaway that ended less than an hour later in a crash and foot chase across the county line in Oakland. Both suspects are now in custody, and investigators say a loaded firearm turned up in the vehicle they left behind.
According to a statement from the San Ramon Police Department, officers responded to the robbery at approximately 6:49 PM in the 3900 block of Crow Canyon Road. The victim told officers that two men, both armed with handguns, assaulted him and took items of value from his person before fleeing. He suffered minor injuries in the attack.
Police say the suspects fled in what was quickly identified, using Flock's automated license plate reader technology, as a 2015 Hyundai Sonata bearing California plate 7HCL742. That identification was shared with other local law enforcement agencies, and Oakland Police Department officers soon located the car, triggering a vehicle pursuit that ended when the Hyundai crashed inside Oakland city limits.
Suspects Ran, But Didn't Get Far
Both men fled the crashed vehicle on foot but were caught by responding officers, per the department's account. They were identified as 22-year-old Isiah Burns of San Francisco and 27-year-old Joseph Broussard of Oakland. A search of the Hyundai turned up a loaded firearm, according to police.
Burns and Broussard were booked into Santa Rita Jail by Oakland police in connection with offenses committed within Oakland's jurisdiction, the department said. Santa Rita Jail, in Dublin, is operated by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and serves as the county's primary intake facility for adult arrestees, per The Bulldog Law. San Ramon detectives traveled to Oakland to process the vehicle for evidence, and Ramey warrants were later obtained for both men in connection with the San Ramon robbery.
How a Ramey Warrant Moves the Case Forward
A Ramey warrant, authorized under California Penal Code Section 817, allows a magistrate to approve an arrest before prosecutors formally file charges, provided officers submit a sworn declaration establishing probable cause, according to the San Francisco Police Department. That mechanism let San Ramon police move quickly on Burns and Broussard while the two remained in Oakland custody on separate local matters. Under the same statute, the pre-complaint warrant also sets an initial bail figure that stands until the district attorney files formal charges and the case reaches arraignment, per a training guide from the City of El Monte.
If prosecutors ultimately charge the pair with armed robbery, the exposure is steep. Robbery under Penal Code Section 211 carries a base state prison term of up to five years, but personally using a firearm during the crime adds a mandatory, consecutive 10-year enhancement under California's so-called 10-20-Life law, Penal Code Section 12022.53, according to the Shouse Law Group. Defendants sentenced under that enhancement must serve at least 85% of the term before becoming parole-eligible. Judges do retain some discretion here: under Senate Bill 620, enacted in 2018, trial courts can strike or dismiss the firearm enhancement at sentencing in the interest of justice, a power they did not have before the law took effect, per Eisner Gorin LLP.
Cameras Installed for Exactly This Scenario
The Flock camera network that flagged the Hyundai traces back to a $1.2 million plan the San Ramon City Council approved in April 2020, deploying 35 automated license plate readers across the city's main entry and exit routes. The system is designed to generate real-time alerts when vehicles associated with violent crimes or stolen plates cross into the city limits, according to the City of San Ramon. The 3900 block of Crow Canyon Road, where the robbery occurred, sits on a corridor that connects San Ramon's neighborhoods directly to Interstate 680 and on into Oakland, with heavy commuter traffic that is part of why the intersection carries its own camera coverage, per the Center for Human Rights and Privacy.
The case fits a pattern regional investigators have been tracking. In April, East Bay law enforcement agencies and prosecutors expanded cross-city crime-suppression partnerships to address crews that commit crimes in suburban Contra Costa cities before fleeing into Alameda County, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of an Alameda County crackdown on mobile crime crews. San Ramon police thanked both the Oakland Police Department and the California Highway Patrol for their assistance in this investigation.
Violent armed robberies remain unusual in San Ramon. The city ranked 9th-safest in California in the SafeWise 2026 Safest Cities report, with neighboring Danville topping the statewide list, according to Contra Costa News. Separate FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data analyzed in 2026 puts San Ramon's overall violent crime rate 49% below the national average, with an individual's chance of being a violent crime victim at 1 in 513, per DoorProfit.
San Ramon police describe the investigation as still active. Anyone who witnessed the robbery or has information that could help investigators is asked to contact the department's Investigations Division at (925) 973-2700. The release lists Lieutenant Mike Pistello as the department's point of contact for the case.
