Lafayette police Thursday arrested two Fairfield residents on suspicion of committing two Lafayette home invasion robberies on Oct. 31 and Nov. 26.
A Fairfield police SWAT team and Lafayette police served arrest and search warrants at a residence in the 500 block of Pacific Avenue in Fairfield. They arrested Joseph Wells, 22, of Fairfield and Adama Diop, 20, of Fairfield.
Lafayette police and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office have been investigating the Halloween robbery, and the Oakland Police Department investigated a home invasion robbery that occurred on Oct. 29.
A similar home invasion robbery occurred in Benicia on Nov. 10. Law enforcement agencies developed leads and found similarities among all four home invasion robberies, police said.
The Nov. 26 robbery in Lafayette occurred around 7:30 p.m. in the 1100 block of Crestmont Drive. Two residents were bound and assaulted by the armed robbers, who fled with personal items and valuables. The victims were left restrained for several hours before they freed themselves and called for help.
The Oct. 31 home invasion occurred in the 1300 block of Martino Road around 8:30 p.m. Three armed suspects assaulted two residents and fled about an hour later in the victims' vehicle.
Police said the robbery delayed response to a noisy Halloween party in Orinda where five people were fatally shot.
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At the Fairfield residence Thursday, Lafayette police seized guns and property they believe was stolen during the home invasion robberies.
Wells and Diop will be booked in the Martinez Detention Facility for residential burglary, kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and conspiracy, police said.
"The arrest of these home invasion robbery suspects was the result of good police work," Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said. "It was a combination of following up on leads, a critical tip from a citizen
reporting something suspicious and teamwork among the law enforcement agencies involved," Livingston said.
