Police arrest three Oakland residents in gas station robbery

Walnut Creek police arrested three people from Oakland early Sunday, including a 17-year-old boy, on suspicion of strong-arming a clerk at the Shell Gas station on North Main Street.

Lt. Bryan Hill said that at about 1:55 a.m. an officer on patrol saw the clerk involved in a struggle with two people inside the station's food mart at 2900 North Main Street. The officer broke up the struggle and arrested those two people, and detained two others who were with them.

Police subsequently learned that the two had just stolen several cartons of cigarettes and had returned to steal more when the clerk tried to stop them. As the clerk was dealing with those two, a third went ahead and stole the cigarettes. That's when the officer intervened.

The clerk was not injured, and police determined that the fourth person in the group was not involved in the thefts. 

The two adults arrested were Ivan Nesby, 32, and Ethel Hands, 25. They were booked into County Jail in Martinez. The 17-year-old boy was booked into Juvenile Hall.