Full Notification

During the early morning hours of Sunday, May 8, 2022, EPD received several 911 calls of a person in the lobby of the Sonesta Hotel, at 5555 Shellmound St, armed with a shotgun.  The individual reportedly threatened several hotel guests and employees with the shotgun.  When officers arrived at the location, they could see the individual walking around in the lobby and he was holding what appeared to be a modified shotgun.

Officers surrounded the business to contain the individual and began attempts to communicate with him.  Over the next two hours, Officers from surrounding jurisdictions responded to the hotel to assist while EPD officers continued attempts to communicate with the individual.  During this time, the individual paced throughout the ground floor of the hotel waving the shotgun around, going in and out of the view of officers.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) team from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department deployed a drone into the hotel lobby in an attempt to locate the individual who had been out of the view of officers for about 30 minutes.  The drone located the individual in the first-floor lobby, lying down on a couch.   Shortly after 4:00 am, officers entered the lobby and detained the individual who was apparently asleep on a couch in the lobby.

EPD officers arrested the individual who was identified as Michael Valladareschirinos, a 29-year-old Richmond resident.  Valladareschirinos was booked on charges of multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon on several victims, criminal threats, possession of a modified shotgun, and possession of a loaded firearm, as well as several outstanding warrants.

Thankfully, no one was injured during this incident.  EPD would like to thank all the surrounding law enforcement agencies who helped bring this incident to a peaceful resolution.  Business at the hotel returned to normal at about 5:00 am.