Thursday, April 20, 2023

Home Depot security guard Blake Mohs fatally shot by would-be thief who fled with boyfriend, 2-year-old...white guard, black woman murderer

Home Depot security guard Blake Mohs fatally shot by would-be thief who fled with boyfriend, 2-year-old


A California Home Depot security guard and Boy Scout leader was killed Tuesday when he tried to stop a woman from stealing an electrical item before she and her boyfriend fled with their toddler in the back of their car.

Blake Mohs, 26, caught Benicia Knapps allegedly in the process of snatching what may have been a phone charger from the store shelves around 2:15 p.m., Pleasanton police said.

A “struggle ensued” after Mohs chased her to the store’s loading dock, but Knapps fired her gun and ran off, cops allege.

Knapps, 32, allegedly jumped into a getaway car driven by her boyfriend, David Guillory, 31, with her 2-year-old child in the backseat as Mohs heavily bled inside the home improvement store.

He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries.


Knapps and Guillory were stopped in Oakland, 20 miles from the Home Depot, and arrested by deputies just 15 minutes after the shooting. 

Knapps — a licensed security guard with priors for theft — was charged with murder, robbery, child endangerment and conspiracy. Guillory was arrested on a child endangerment charge and evading police and driving the wrong way.

Blake Mohs and his finacee
Blake Mohs was fatally shot while trying to stop a shoplifter at a Home Depot in Pleasanton, California. 
Blake Mohs/Facebook

Knapps was placed on a mental hold after choking herself with a seatbelt in the back of the Alameda Sheriff’s Department police cruiser until she lost consciousness, CBS reported.

Cops found a handgun at an intersection near the store. Knapps’ toddler was released to relatives.

The Home Depot Mohs was working at.
Mohs and Benicia Knapps physically struggled over the electronic device she allegedly stole from the store. 
Blake Mohs/Facebook

Pleasanton officials said Mohs was an active community leader who had an interest in pursuing law enforcement as a career and had plans to get married this summer.

“Unfortunately Blake’s life was cut short by this senseless act of violence that started with a theft and turned into a robbery and ended in his murder,” Lt. Erik Silacci said at a press conference. 

“We lost a valuable member of our community, a person who served to protect his fellow co-workers and customers and was a valuable partner with law enforcement.”

Benicia Knapps and David Guillory mugshot.
Benicia Knapps and David Guillory, who served as her getaway driver, were arrested 20 miles from the Home Depot.
Pleasanton Police Department

Mohs’ longtime friend Scott Rodgers told KTVU that Mohs was a “huge volunteer” for the Boy Scouts of America even in the years following his own time as a member.

Mohs and his fiancee even had plans to get married in August at Camp Royaneh in Cazadero along the Russian River, where they had met while they were both volunteering with the Scouts. 

“He’s an incredible person,” Rodgers said. “Everybody loved Blake.” 

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