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A man in an electric wheelchair robbed the Wachovia Bank at Stanford Shopping Center Thursday afternoon at gunpoint of an undisclosed amount of money.
There was a delay in the bank notifying police, Palo Alto Police Agent Dan Ryan said, and the robber was able to successfully get away. (View the press release)
Ryan explained that the delay in notifying the police was two to four minutes because the bank’s alarm notified its corporate office, which verified that there had been a robbery, and then the corporate office notified the police.
“We were there within one minute” of being notified, Ryan said.
The man entered the bank at 4:23 p.m. He was approximately 65-70 years old and had a cast on one leg and a gray beard, witnesses reported. He was described as balding by some. He wore a dark, hooded sweatshirt.
The same man had entered the Sharper Image store at the shopping center earlier and, without making any purchases, asked for a shopping bag with the store’s logo, Ryan said. He used that to put the bank money in later.
Store employees had seen him enter a large, white van with red lettering on the side and a wheelchair lift at the rear doors, aided by at least one other man, Ryan said. But bank employees did not see any white van.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the police anonymous tip line at 650-329-2190.
— Don Kazak
By
— Don Kazak
By
— Don Kazak
By
Is this an April Fool’s joke? Was he armed? This reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Sideshow Bob steals the Wright Flier, and 2 Navy F-14’s try to catch it. After screaming past it, the pilot says, “Bogey’s air speed not sufficient for intercept. Suggest we get out and walk.”
Those electric vehicles can really hum.
Remember when Al Gores son was arrested for DUI and drug possession after been a traffic stop for going 100 mph in a Prius on the freeway?
The Prius is not an electric vehicle
C’MON DON KAZAK,
I just read the police department’s press release on the city website. How do leave out the fact that the robber also produced a handgun from the shopping bag. Something the readers might want to know I would think. Trying to soften the event or looking for a little spin?
Well with this new green spirit sweeping the area, its good to know that even the criminals use environmentally friendly electric vehicles.
Why am I beating my brains out at work every day?
There’s an easier way to make a living, and be green…
It’s obviously D.B. Cooper. No more doughnuts for the cops until they can move quickly enough to catch up with him.
Now the bleeding hearts will be moaning on how Palo Alto failed this guy, what WE did wrong, what WE should have done to provide for him. We don’t even know if he needed a wheelchair or was it is a good ‘prop’. And how long will the PAPD solve this case and let it drag on? Hopefully faster that the PACT.
James: If one reads the first paragraph of Don’s writeup you will see that it says “at gunpoint.” Seems to me that about covers it, whether he took it from the shopping bag or his pocket. -jay
Here’s a man that didn’t let his disability get in the way of his goals!
This story made the Drudge Report this morning (Sunday). It was listed with a few other bizarre crime stories.
Hopefully this incident will inspire more handicapped people to commit crimes. They have the equal opportunity to do wrong and get away with it too…
Someone should have pulled the battery wires on that thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy frequently visited one of the area hospitals!!
was the delay in bank calling the PAPD because they wanted to check with their lawyers about the application of the disability statutes and various affirmative action laws?.
Equal opportunity for those in wheel chair particularly electric ones.
Hmmm….
Electric wheelchairs are not “green” alternatives to something else. They are wheelchairs with large power supplies that allow disabled people to propel themselves – at a fairly fast clip at top speed (up to 10 mph/ a 6 minute mile, which I’ll warrant most of you funny guys couldn’t do for any significant distance if at all) – rather than being wheeled manually by someone else. The chairs are bulkier than regular chairs and would actually be fairly difficult for someone on foot to apprehend, especially if the rider were wielding a handgun.
As for whether the chair was a “prop” – that’s kind of an expensive prop, do you know what those things cost? It’s not like they’re as common as cars or bikes, either. Too bad people know so little about them – if witnesses could pin down specifics about the chair, I’m guessing it probably wouldn’t be that hard to track down the owner by the description of the chair (and even the perpetrator, assuming it’s his chair) and the van with the lift!
I think the knee-jerk criticism of the PAPD is unwarranted. They’ve made more difficult arrests in recent months, I expect they’ll find this guy soon.
Another example of the American’s with Disabilities Act being misused.
the drawing looks like that undercover officer…
A.J.- Re: the wheelchair being “green”….it was suppose to be funny…a joke. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff].
ok AJ….the funny business wasn’t meant to offend anyone so don’t take it so personally and btw I can run a 6 min mile for longer than one mile.
It seems as though there were enough witnesses to see this man leave the bank in the wheelchair and hoist himself into this van….why didn’t anyone get a tag number??
Police couldn’t find him because he stopped at The Peninsula Creamery for a burger, fries, and a milkshake.
I know this guy…he was panhandling last week in front of Starbucks on Unversity Ave. As my girlfriend and I walked by I said, “have a nice day”, and gave him two quarters. He replied, “That’s only 25 cents each!” The gratitude of some people!
KT – I’d like to challenge you to a race. I’ll borrow my grandpa’s electric wheelchair. We’ll go five miles. The winner gets a Sharper Image bag full of Wachovia Bank pens, stickers, and refrigerator magnets.
This whole thing is a hoax perpetrated by Wachovia to divert attention from their recent write down of over $10 billion in subprime loan losses.
Check out the picture…there’s something familiar about this guy. Didn’t I read that the Unibomber was recently released from prison and is living in a halfway house in Northern Calif. I think the article said he’s now disabled and was given an electric wheelchair as part of his release agreement. Coincidence?
Dear Weekly,
Will you please kindly at least censor the name calling by the above resident who fancies himself a comedian?
ThunderRoad – I’m guessing by your oddly angry outburst that you don’t realize you are not as funny as you think you are?
Humor as a cover for anger and other negative feelings is rarely as funny as people think it is – with the exception of lawyer jokes… Let’s face it, most of the above posts were more political expressions than attempts at real humor. Not that good humor can’t be strong political expression, but like lawyer jokes, it does have to actually be funny or it just comes across as angry. Name-calling for no real provocation – also definitely comes across as angry. A better joke in response vs. name-calling – two very different ways to respond that say a lot about the true nature of the poster.
As it is, I’m just puzzled at why anyone would get so angry that a stranger didn’t laugh on cue at such a lame attempt at humor. (My not getting it was not a political statement, if that’s why you got upset – sorry, no good jokes there.)
Maybe I’m being a little thin-skinned on behalf of the PA police department and the people on the scene. Okay KT, you’re in better shape than most people – but I don’t think you could outrun a bullet, and I’m glad no one on the scene thought they could try.
Now, if the old guy had WHEELED himself in with a manually powered chair, didn’t have a gun, and still got away, THEN maybe I would have chuckled at the allusions to “green” crime…
I take that back – CrocHunter, you are funny!
A.J.- As Shakespeare once said, you “doth protest too much”. Perhaps you are not sophisticated enough to understand satirical humor. By the way, your arguments are convoluted and circular. And regarding your armchair pychological analysis…one bit of advice…don’t quit your day job! (that is, if you are working). Have a nice day.
ThunderRoad – No, I have a pretty keen sense of humor, but as you point out, I’m no psychologist.
Perhaps you could explain to me why it continues to be so important to you to insist that the above lame attempts at humor were indeed funny and to be sure that I, a stranger, either agree or am duly put in my place for not being sophisticated enough to see it?
A.J. Apparently you take yourself WAY TOO SERIOUSLY. You need to lighten up and laugh a little. BTW, your second paragraph is one long run on sentence.
Hard to believe the Weekly CENSORED my earlier comment. Oh I forgot, this is Palo Alto and we must be POLITALLY CORRECT at all times. Apparently, some posters can’t handle opposing views. If you want to see free wheeling discussions, check out the comments on the Chronicle’s site, sfgate.com. On sfgate posters don’t have such thin skins….and there’s often some rather lively give-and-take. Posters there don’t get their FEELING HURT because it’s all done in the spirit of open and free debate.
Croc, I would say yes to the challenge, but the prize seems pretty lame….except for the pens…..can I still get the pens? haha.
Anyway, AJ, I agree that it was smart of the people not to try to outrun a bullet and I am really glad that no one got hurt. Let’s all be thankful for that.