OAKLAND – A city resident has been charged with murder after authorities identified him as the driver of a car that crashed while racing through the streets of Hayward from the site of a June 2020 Verizon store robbery, court records show.
Edwardo Moran, 21, has been charged with the murder of 19-year-old Mohammed Mustafa Ali in an accident on June 1, 2020 on Santa Clara Street, off West Winton Avenue, in Hayward. Court records show that Moran is also charged with robbery by burglary of a closed business and receiving stolen property.
Moran has pleaded not guilty and has been in Dublin’s Santa Rita Prison since last September, when the criminal case was filed. His next trial date has been set for Feb. 3, where his lawyer will petition the judge for bail. Morana’s co-defendant, who faces only looting and property theft charges, has been released from custody, records show.
According to Hayward police, Moran, Ali and Moran’s co-defendant, a 20-year-old man, were seen fleeing a Verizon store in Hayward, one of hundreds of reported robberies in the Bay Area following the incident. the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. The three men got into the car and sped away, accelerating to over 100 mph in the 35 mph zone.
Police attempted to stop the car, but were unsuccessful, and investigators say the car continued to travel at over 100 miles per hour through city streets after the chase was called off. According to police, the car crashed into an immovable object, killing Ali and seriously injuring the passenger, who suffered a broken spine.
Moran was identified as the driver and later admitted to speeding even after the police stopped chasing him, according to police investigator Hayward’s statement of probable cause.
“Moran explained that he knew that driving at high speeds could result in the death of himself, his passengers, or other motorists/pedestrians on the roadway,” Hayward police officer Rodney Johnson wrote in court records. “Moran said that although he knew about it, he did not want to be stopped by the police and continued to drive at a high speed.”
Moran was arrested immediately after the confrontation, but he was not charged until 15 months later, while police continued their investigation, court records show.
The burglary and property theft allegations state that Moran and the 20-year-old man stole “shoes, (a) backpack, comic books, soft toys, clothing, food, mobile phone accessories, and/or video games” from a Verizon store. .
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