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Clarence Rainey, from left, Carrie La Bauve, and Wilbur King talk to reporters outside an Alameda Superior Court arraignment proceeding for their relative, Tamon Halfin, who was charged with kidnapping and robbery in connection with Your Black Muslim Bakery, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 in Oakland, Calif. (D. Ross Cameron/The Oakland Tribune)

The charges stem from two ruthless episodes since May, including the killing of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey, who was slain with a shotgun as he walked to work in downtown Oakland Thursday morning.

The other charges stem from an alleged May kidnapping and torture in which several members of the bakery kidnapped two women using a car modified to look like a police cruiser.

The suspects charged Tuesday were arrested by police Friday during a raid of the bakery in which police say they found weapons, unsanitary conditions and eventually, Bailey's killer and the weapon he used.


Broussard told police he killed Bailey because the journalist "slandered the Your Black Muslim Bakery," court documents state.

Bailey had been working on a story about the bakery's financial troubles and internal bickering over who controlled the operation.



A couple of hours after Broussard appeared, the group's leader, Bey IV, stood before Beatus as he was charged with numerous violent crimes including kidnapping, car jacking and torture.



Joshua Bey pled not guilty to the charges and his attorney, David Washington of Stockton, said his client is "a young naive kid."

"He can't even understand the gravity of what he is in," Washington said.




Under questioning after Friday's raid, Halfin, Bey and Bey IV all said they kidnapped the women and beat them, court and police documents state.


The men believed the women had "a lot of money" and that a male friend of theirs also had a lot of cash.

The women were abducted on May 17 after leaving a bingo parlor at Foothill Square in East Oakland. They were driving on Interstate 580 when they saw what they thought was a "police car" with flashing lights pull them over.

Both Halfin and Bey said they were directed by Bey IV to watch the women's car and to notify him when the two women left a bingo parlor, police records state. Both said they followed the orders because they were trying to get money for the bakery.

Once they stopped the car, two men wearing dark clothing and masks ordered the women at gun point into the "police car" where a third man was behind the wheel. Both women had their heads covered to prevent them from seeing their abductors, the affidavit states.

As two of the men drove the women away in the fake police car, the third suspect followed in the women's car. They drove to a vacant house in the 6800 block of Avenal Avenue in East Oakland that the bakery owns and rents out, police said. 







All three men continue to be held without bail.

But the kidnapping case isn't the only one that could be pinned to the three.

Bey IV is awaiting an Aug. 17 trial in San Francisco in an assault case, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.




Meanwhile, Broussard also has a history of violence.


"He was sentenced as consistent with first-time offenders," Mesloh said in an e-mailed statement. " ... (Broussard) was also ordered to three years supervised probation so authorities could track his activities."

Police continue to search for the van used in Bailey's killing. Although the white Ford Aerostar has not been found, police said they have an idea where it is located.


"Others may be charged later on," Jordan said during a news conference Monday morning. "This case, we are going to be investigating it up until a trial."

Staff writer Kristin Bender contributed to this report.