Richmond woman arrested for Oakley gym locker room robbery

Stole wallets, cell phones, debit cards and cash; tried to buy $5,000 worth of merchandise

By Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard

On June 26, 2023 at 4:58PM Oakley Police Officers were dispatched to the Diamond Hills Gym, located at 1510 Neroly Road, on the report of multiple thefts that had just occurred. Upon arrival our officers learned a woman used a fake name to gain entry into the gym and then proceeded to physically break into multiple lockers in the women’s locker room. Approximately 5-6 patrons reported being victims of the thefts and items such as: wallets, cell phones, debit cards, and cash were reported as being stolen. Our officers interviewed victims, witnesses, and obtained video surveillance of the suspect. Some of the victims were alerted by their bank institutions, their credit cards were already being used at the Nordstrom store, in Concord at the Sun Valley Mall.

Officer Hurtado responded to the Nordstrom store to continue his investigation and obtain additional video surveillance. Officer Hurtado learned the suspect had left the store by the time he arrived. Officer Hurtado continued his investigation by talking to security and store employees when he saw a woman walk back into the store.

Officer Hurtado recognized the woman from the Diamond Hills Gym surveillance, and also from the Nordstrom store surveillance. Officer Hurtado approached the woman and promptly arrested her for the crimes, the woman continued her nefarious ways by providing a false name to Officer Hurtado.

Officer Hurtado was ultimately able to identify the woman as Andrania Yancy (37, Richmond). It was further determined, Yancy attempted to purchase over $5,000 worth of merchandise using six different stolen credit cards, all of which were denied. Yancy was arrested for grand theft, false impersonation of another, identification theft, and an outstanding warrant.

“I would like to thank everybody who brought this criminal matter to our attention. Because of quick reporting by witnesses and victims our officers were able to get an early jump on their investigation and they were able to develop information even as another related crime was taking place in another jurisdiction. At the time of this crime we had additional resources available to us in the form of a fully staffed swing shift team. This fully staffed team is the direct result of a commitment by the Oakley City Council and City Management to listen to Oakley residents and business owners to fund appropriate law-enforcement services. This commitment is not only leading to safer streets, but it has also resulted in the recruitment of some of the best law-enforcement candidates in the industry, such as Officer Hurtado, and I am grateful for all of them. Stay safe Oakley.”

According to information from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, Yancy bonded out and is no longer in custody as of Wednesday afternoon, June 28.

According to localcrimenews.com Yancy has a history of arrests for various criminal activity dating back to 2014 including for grand theft, burglary, forgery in multiple cities and counties.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.