Skip to main content
News

Man arrested after riding BART with gun on display, police say

Police were called about a man with what appeared to be a firearm at 12:08 a.m. and responded to West Oakland Station.

Bart railway system in San Francisco. | Chris North/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A BART train in San Francisco | Chris North/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images | Source: Chris North/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A man was arrested just after midnight Wednesday after riding with a gun on display, BART officials said.

Police were called about a man with what appeared to be a firearm at 12:08 a.m. and responded to the West Oakland Station.

A 20-year-old Hayward man was found to be in possession of a replica firearm as he got off a train. The replica was modified to remove the red markings on the barrel to make it look more like a real firearm, police said. The suspect was taken into custody and booked into an Alameda County jail in Dublin.

A black semi-automatic pistol with a textured grip lies next to a tall, black magazine on a dark surface.
A replica firearm was recovered by BART Police Department. | Courtesy photo

It was not clear what kind of projectiles, if any, the replica gun was able to fire.

Later on Wednesday at West Oakland, a man was arrested for allegedly slashing a passenger with a cleaver and attempting to steal his backpack. The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, a BART Police statement said.

A recent EMC Research poll of 1,000 Bay Area residents said 46% of them had witnessed crime on BART. The poll also found that safety and cleanliness were two major impediments to getting people back on BART.

Joe Burn can be reached at [email protected]