All charges have been dropped against a man who allegedly assisted a robber in the murder of Auckland police officer Tuan Le.
OAKLAND — Alameda County prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all charges against a man who allegedly served as a lookout during a robbery in which Oakland Police Officer Tuan Le was shot and killed.
The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has dropped three counts of second-degree burglary against Marquis Cooper, 35. The move comes just weeks after a judge dismissed a murder charge against Cooper, saying prosecutors failed to prove he was a “principal contributor” to the officer's death in late December.
Cooper remained in custody Wednesday morning on suspicion of violating probation in a Contra Costa County theft case, but his lawyer said he was “pleased” the Alameda District Attorney's Office had dropped the case against him.
“From the beginning of this case, we have maintained that Marquis is innocent of the murder charge,” attorney Ernie Castillo said. “Marquis and his family look forward to having him home soon.”
Three others connected to Lee's death — Mark Demetrius Sanders, Allen Starr Brown and Sebron Russell — remained held without bail Wednesday. Lee was working as an undercover police officer when he was shot and killed Dec. 29 while responding to a series of break-ins along the city's waterfront.
A judge in mid-August determined there was enough evidence to put the three on trial for murder. A trial date has not been set; all three pleaded not guilty earlier this year.
Authorities allege Sanders, Brown and Russell broke into the marijuana grow facility in the 400 block of Embarcadero multiple times in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 29. Lee and his partner responded to the warehouse twice that morning, the second time around 4:30 a.m. when at least seven robbers ran out of the ransacked grow facility and fled in multiple vehicles.
Officers, wearing plain clothes and driving a plain Nissan pickup truck, initially pursued one of the vehicles that left the warehouse parking lot, which Russell allegedly was in, according to court testimony.
Minutes later, prosecutors suspect Brown pulled up behind the officers in another vehicle and Sanders fired at least 22 rounds into their pickup truck. Lee was shot in the head and died a few hours later at Highland Hospital. His death marked the first time an Oakland police officer had been killed in the line of duty in nearly 15 years.
According to court testimony, Cooper had parked his car on the other side of Interstate 880 and acted as a lookout during the final break-in that morning. In dismissing the murder charge against Cooper, Alameda County Judge Delia Trevino said Cooper should not be charged with murder because he did not see Lee's truck when officers arrived at the grow facility or when Cooper was shot.
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