A Richmond man suspected of stalking his ex-girlfriend was arrested at a motel Tuesday night, and guests were evacuated after officers found a grenade in his room, police said.
Officers collared Oscar Barrera, 34, in a room at the Sea Horse Motel, at 909 Cutting Blvd., and also found what appeared to be a grenade, Richmond police spokeswoman Sgt. Nicole Abetkov said.
Police evacuated the motel for more than an hour after finding the device and called in the Walnut Creek Police Department Bomb Squad, Abetkov said.
“Until we get the report, we won’t know if it’s real or not,” Abetkov said. “But you have to err on the side of caution whenever you’re dealing with something like this.”
Bomb Squad officials were still determining Wednesday morning whether the grenade was authentic, Walnut Creek police Lt. Steve Gorski said. The grenade was detonated, Gorski said, but not all grenades that explode are authentic, he said.
Barrera has been suspected of stalking his ex-girlfriend since December, Abetkov said. Police say he has violated several restraining orders, and Abetkov said that led police to issue an arrest warrant. They were called to investigate Tuesday morning when Barrera allegedly violated another order, but he was gone by the time they arrived, Abetkov said.
An officer saw him in the parking lot of the hotel at 8:49 p.m. Tuesday night, called for backup and served the warrant, Abetkov said. They found the grenade during a search of the room after his arrest, she said.
Charges against Barrera were still pending, though Abetkov said he is expected at least to be charged with stalking. He was expected to be booked into County Jail in Martinez later Wednesday.
Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rderh.
