Alleged car thief arraigned in Alameda County

The first in what will likely be a roving tour of court appearances for Dimitri Storm began on Friday, May 10 in Oakland as the suspected car thief and burglar was formally charged for nine alleged crimes in Alameda County — the first in a long line of municipalities lining up for a court date with Storm.
Storm was arrested on May 7 in Berkeley.
On Monday, May 13, Storm pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of attempted vehicle burglary, as well as misdemeanor counts of petty theft, providing false information to police, and resisting arrest.
Storm was arrested at 3:14 a.m. May 7 when a 911 call was received from a resident of the 1500 block of Summit Road in northeastern Berkeley who reported that someone was attempting to break into a parked vehicle. According to Officer Jennifer Coats of the Berkeley Police Department, when officers arrived at the scene, Storm was found nearby and arrested.
Storm allegedly provided them with the alias James Prouty Rollston before attempting to flee, leading officers on what Coats described as a very brief foot chase before being cuffed.
“He resisted our officers and tried to run,” Coats said. “For us, it was a very brief contact and we were able to take him into custody.”
Storm, who is alleged to have threatened a burglary victim with a gun in a previous incident, was unarmed when he was arrested, Coats said.
Once his identity was confirmed, Storm was booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin where he remains in custody with bail set at $1,000,000.
According to Teresa Drenick of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, Storm’s next Oakland court date is scheduled to be a preliminary hearing on Monday, May 20, and his pretrial court date will take place on Friday, May 24.
It could be some time before Storm, suspected of a month-long crime spree that included vehicle burglaries and thefts as well as high-speed chases and residential burglaries in numerous counties, appears in a Santa Cruz County court.
According to Dave Genochio of the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office, the counties with warrants out for Storm – including Sonoma, Napa, Monterey, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties – have not yet decided on which county will try him once Alameda County is finished.
“If (Storm) is pending prosecution there it could be some time,” he said. “There’s no order in succession into who gets him next.”
Genochio said that the counties were in the process of settling on which charges to proceed forward with and comparing notes with each other so as to avoid duplicate charges.
To comment, email reporter Joe Shreve at

jo*@pr*********.com











, call 438-2500 or post a comment at www.pressbanner.com.