K-State graduate dies of injuries after chasing laptop thief at California Starbucks
A Kansas State University graduate, who was working in the California tech industry, was killed on New Year’s Eve while chasing a thief who had stolen his laptop at a Starbucks in Oakland.
Shuo Zeng, who was from China, graduated from K-State in 2015. The day he died, he had been planning to celebrate his 34th birthday and the coming of the new year with a group of friends.
Oakland police on Thursday arrested two men in connection with the theft and Zeng’s death. On Friday, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged Byron Reed, 22, and Javon Lee, 21, with second degree robbery. Reed was also charged with special circumstance murder, and Lee was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Investigators are still determining if additional suspects were involved.
Zeng frequently went to the Starbucks to work on his laptop, a co-worker told the Associated Press.
Witnesses told police that at about 11:30 a.m., a man approached Zeng, snatched his laptop and ran to a waiting vehicle. Zeng chased after the thief. The car drove off as Zeng grabbed the door handle, causing him to slam his head into a parked car.
“He was bleeding only from the head. His face was purple and blue,” Maria Chan, a florist shop owner across the street, told the AP.
In news accounts, friends described Zeng as kind, smart and a hard worker. According to his Linkedin page, Zeng was a research scientist for Aspera, an IBM company.
He lived a mile and a half from Oakland’s Montclair District Starbucks. He died after being taken by ambulance to a hospital.
K-State officials said Zeng had earned a doctorate in physics.
“As a student at Kansas State University, Shuo was well known and very well liked by everyone in the department,” said Brett DePaola, head of the university’s physics department and a professor who knew Zeng. “The news of his death is shocking. The world has lost a very bright, friendly and wonderful person.”
Oakland police ask that anyone with more information about this incident contact police homicide at (510) 238-3821.
