ANTIOCH (BCN) — Antioch police have released the identity of a man who allegedly went on a crime spree that ended with a shootout that injured an officer in Pittsburg earlier this month.
Mario Serrano, 25, of Antioch, was arrested in connection with a series of incidents that occurred on May 4 that led to Serrano allegedly shooting an Antioch police officer identified as Thomas Smith.
Serrano allegedly shot at Smith, who has recovered from his injuries, and Officer Scott Duggar before he surrendered to the officers.
He was arrested for that incident as well as earlier shootings, including allegedly firing a shotgun into a McDonald’s at 2424 Mahogany Way in Antioch, shattering several of the building’s windows, police said.
Antioch police officers responded to the scene and found a male employee suffering a minor gunshot wound. He was not believed to be the intended target of the shooting.
Investigators later determined that Serrano’s girlfriend was a McDonald’s employee. She was not there when the shooting occurred.
The girlfriend also had relatives at a residence in the 1200 block of Beacon Street in Pittsburg, where Serrano allegedly fired a shotgun into windows only 15 minutes after the McDonald’s shooting.
After Pittsburg and Antioch police determined that the incidents were connected, investigators further discovered that the shootings were motivated by a domestic dispute.
While still investigating the incidents, Antioch police were notified at 5:52 p.m. that the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a carjacking involving the suspect again.
Brandishing a shotgun, Serrano allegedly stole a 17-year-old victim’s BMW off of state Highway 4 near Martinez, leaving behind a Chevrolet truck that had been described in the earlier shootings, police said.
At 6:11 p.m., an Antioch police officer located the stolen vehicle at West 10th Street and Verne Roberts Circle, near the border between Pittsburg and Antioch, and pursued it when the driver fled.
When Serrano crashed at the intersection of East Leland and Loveridge roads in Pittsburg, he allegedly opened fire on the approaching officers, Smith and Duggar.
The officers returned fire but never struck Serrano prior to his surrender, police said.
After his arrest, Serrano was charged by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office with 11 offenses.
Serrano is facing two counts each of attempted murder of an officer, carjacking and shooting at an inhabited dwelling, according to the district attorney’s office.
He’s also charged with fleeing a pursuing officer while driving recklessly, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, grand theft of a firearm, first-degree residential burglary and arson.
Serrano is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Thursday afternoon in Martinez.