Man arrested after breaking into Alameda police headquarters, wearing cop 'attire'
FILE - An Alameda police car. Credit: Alameda police
ALAMEDA, Calif. - A 41-year-old homeless man wanted in Colorado was arrested after police say he slipped inside the Alameda Police Department building and was seen on the street in "police attire."
Alexander Charman, standing 6 feet 7 inches, may have scaled the gate into the back parking lot of the administration building and then snuck into the main building, police said.
In a statement, police said Charman first tried to enter the administration building at 1555 Oak St. on Wednesday at about 8:45 p.m. The building is closed to the public for COVID, police said, but he was "highly agitated" and tried to get in anyway. Eventually, he left. Police officers went out to see if he needed help, but by the time they got there, he was gone.
At 10:30 p.m., police said they were called out to the 2500 block of Blanding Avenue. Someone had called in to say a man wearing "police attire" was trying to "commit a theft," police said, without being specific.
Based on a description from the dispatchers, police said "we determined it was probably" the same person who had tried to enter the administration building nearly two hours earlier. Again, when officers arrived, they couldn't find anyone.
Then, at 2 a.m., a man was heard yelling inside the police administration building. Two sergeants realized that the same man had gotten inside the building. He wouldn't listen to the officers and they struggled, police said.
Charman arrested on a burglary charge, police noted in their news release. It wasn't immediately clear why he was wanted in Colorado.
KTVU's Henry Lee contributed to this report.