Woman Charged With Driving Truck Toward Federal Officers in Alameda Is Freed on Bail

The woman facing federal charges for driving a U-Haul truck toward Coast Guard officers during an immigration protest in Oakland last month was released on bail early Friday.

Bella Thompson, 26, is expected to reside with her parents in Southern California while attending an outpatient mental health treatment program pending trial, according to new court filings.

Thompson is accused of reversing a U-Haul truck toward a blockade of federal officers on the bridge to Alameda’s Coast Guard Island on the night of Oct. 23. That day, U.S. Border Patrol agents had arrived on the base ahead of a planned “surge” of immigration enforcement activity in San Francisco.

At the time, the Coast Guard said the Department of Homeland Security planned to use the base as a “place of operation.”

Their arrival that morning sparked protests across the Bay Area, including at the intersection of Dennison Street and Embarcadero in Oakland, which leads onto the base’s single access bridge. For hours, hundreds of activists tried to block vehicles from driving on or off the island, though most dispersed in the afternoon after California Highway Patrol cleared the road.

Shortly before 10 p.m., prosecutors say, Thompson arrived at the intersection, where a few dozen protesters remained. Prosecutors allege she reversed the truck onto the bridge and defied orders to stop.

They say Coast Guard personnel feared for their lives and opened fire on the truck, striking Thompson and a bystander.

Thompson drove off but was detained later that night at Highland Hospital in Oakland, where she was being treated for a gunshot wound to the back.

The order to release Thompson pending trial on Thursday comes a week after she appeared in court for a bail hearing that was sealed to the public, since defense attorneys said it would include discussion of her mental health diagnosis and medical and hospitalization information.

According to federal prosecutors, she returned to the court on Thursday for further proceedings and was ultimately granted bail. They moved to pause Thompson’s release that day, saying they planned to appeal the decision.

Prosecutors had argued that Thompson should remain in custody pending trial, calling her a “danger to the community” and citing her attempt to flee detention on the night of her arrest.

According to police reports, Thompson tried to escape Alameda police officers at Highland Hospital after asking to use the restroom. Officers wrote that they tackled her to the ground and handcuffed her to a gurney.

That night, Thompson was transferred to John George Psychiatric Hospital and underwent a mental health evaluation. She was later placed on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold before being booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

“The conditions of release currently set — which include release to a ‘partial hospitalization plan’ — are insufficient to ensure the safety of the community,” the government’s motion read.

District Judge Casey Pitts late Thursday granted a temporary delay on her release until 4 p.m. Friday. Normally, that order would have required Thompson to remain in custody until it expired or Pitts issued a further instruction, but she was released around 2:30 a.m. Friday, according to her attorneys.

In a motion they filed Friday morning opposing the delay of Thompson’s release, attorneys Elisse Larouche and Kaitlyn Frysek wrote that the government did not make a strong case that her release posed a danger to the community, citing that she had no criminal record and would be required to reside with her parents in Southern California pending trial.

They also wrote that delaying bail would delay Thompson’s participation in a mental health treatment program 25 hours per week beginning Monday, and could cause potential harm to her mental health.

Pitts vacated the temporary delay of release on Friday morning, writing that it was not warranted since Thompson had been released from custody and “a judge had ‘appropriately tailored’ the conditions of release ‘to avoid risk to the community’” pending appeal.