BART Officer Jailed

Johannes Mehserle taken into custody in Nevada

Authorities in Nevada arrested the former BART police  officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant III at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland Jan. 1 after learning an arrest warrant for homicide was pending  against him, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

Oakland police provided the sheriff's office information that Johannes Mehserle, 27, was in the Zephyr Cove area of Lake Tahoe, Nev., the sheriff's office reported.

Oakland police and Douglas County sheriff's officials determined  Mehserle was in the 1000 block of Skyland Drive in Zephyr Cove.

After receiving confirmation that an arrest warrant had been  issued, authorities contacted Mehserle's attorney, who in turn called  Mehserle.

Mehserle left the home at 1007 Skyland Drive and surrendered to  sheriff's officials without incident at about 6:20 p.m., the sheriff's office  reported.

He was booked into the Douglas County Sheriff's Office main jail in Minden on a fugitive warrant for homicide from Alameda County Superior  Court, according to the sheriff's office.

Mehserle is being held without bail pending his extradition  hearing, according to the sheriff's office.

He is being kept in a segregated area of the facility and is on a  precautionary health and welfare watch, according to the sheriff's office.

The incident at the Fruitvale station in Oakland occurred shortly  after 2 a.m. on Jan. 1 when Mehserle and other officers stopped a train at  the station in Oakland after receiving reports that two groups of men were  fighting on the train.

The shooting, which is under investigation by multiple agencies,  has prompted protests in the Bay Area, including a violent demonstration last  week in Oakland.
 
Another protest is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday outside  Oakland's City Hall.

Copyright The Associated Press
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