OAKLAND — A local man has been charged with possessing two guns that he allegedly attempted to hide from police officers after they identified him as the suspect in a 2025 robbery, court records show.
The victim of the Oct. 16, 2025 robbery, a 41-year-old man, told police he was robbed for a laptop and $180 in cash while attempting to become “friends” with a 21-year-old suspected sex worker who allegedly aided in the robbery. The victim was punched 20-30 times during the robbery, ran away to call police, and returned to find about $2,000 in damage to his car, according to court records.
Brice Burford, 24, was charged with possessing two firearms found at a hotel in Oakland, where police were investigating him in a 2025 robbery. (Northern California District Court Records)
The suspect, 24-year-old Brice Burford, was charged with possessing an AK-47-style rifle and a loaded pistol as a “prohibited person” due to a 2022 domestic violence conviction. The victim of the domestic violence charge was the same 21-year-old woman, according to court records.
Burford was charged by a criminal complaint last March, but prosecutors filed a new charging document on May 28. He pleaded not guilty last Tuesday, records show.
The investigation started around 1 a.m. on Oct. 16, after the 41-year-old man called police. He said that he was working as an Uber driver when he recognized the 21-year-old woman standing on a corner on International Boulevard. He told police she appeared to be a sex worker but that he was “trying to make friends” with her and had no interest in buying a prostitute, authorities said.
The woman got into his car and they drove to a nearby parking lot, where she texted someone. A few moments later, a man — identified by police as Burford — drove up in a Nissan and demanded cash from Burford. The victim said he was punched repeatedly and police say he suffered cuts and bruises. He ran from the area and when he returned, his windshield was smashed, authorities said.
The Nissan, registered to Burford, was picked up by a license plate reader in the area, authorities said. The victim identified the 21-year-old woman in a photo lineup. Police arrested both Burford and the woman at room 109 at the Laurel Inn on MacArthur Boulevard a week later. Police say Burford was seen throwing two guns, wrapped in towels, out of the room’s back window just two minutes before he surrendered to police.
In 2021, when Burford was 19 and the woman was 17, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her in San Francisco. Two months later, in early 2022, he was arrested on a second domestic violence charge involving the same woman. In 2023, he pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge and was sentenced to 276 days in jail and ordered to stay away from the woman, court records show.
The conditions for that convictions included a firearm relinquishment order, court records show.