OAKLAND — A local resident who police recently arrested on suspicion of killing an 81-year-old man in a hit-and-run crash was out on bail at the time, facing charges that he possessed an assault weapon to protect his allegedly illegal smoke shop, court records show.
Abdullah Mohamed, 22, was out on $25,000 bail when he allegedly crashed a 2015 Nissan Altima into 81-year-old Eugene Lynch, a pedestrian, on Oct. 3. Authorities say the Nissan continued from the crash site at 17th Street and Lakeside Drive at high speeds, but that security cameras in the area helped them identify it as Mohamed’s car.
Mohamed was arrested on Oct. 22 on a Ramey warrant, and police took his DNA. He has not yet been charged but the investigation is still open, court records show.
In April, prosecutors charged Mohamed with a felony and two misdemeanors, all related to him allegedly possessing a gun that was found during a Jan. 20 raid of Puff Exotics, a now-defunct smoke shop on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland. Authorities said in court filings that they seized cannabis and psilocybin, as well as counterfeit ecstasy pills “which were later tested and determined to be methamphetamine.”
The news station KTVU reported that operators of the business were high-fiving each other and re-opened the store within hours of the raid. It is now listed as defunct online. A KTVU reporter called the business and was told that the person arrested was a handyman who needed the AR-15 to protect the business. Police say they identified Mohamed as one of two store owners and that another gun, a pistol, was found hidden inside a toilet at his home.