Palo Alto police arrested a man on suspicion of shoplifting merchandise, physically resisting loss prevention personnel and attempting to rob an 80-year-old man at Stanford Shopping Center on Monday.
A loss prevention employee at Macy's in the Stanford Shopping Center notified police at about 3:19 p.m. on Monday that a shoplifting incident was in progress. The loss prevention officer reported that the man had physically resisted them and allegedly attempted to steal a cellphone from someone in the mall as he fled, according to a police press release.
The man, a 49-year-old Santa Cruz resident, had allegedly tried to steal $350 worth of merchandise. Two loss prevention officers claimed that the man shoved them when they attempted to place him under a private person's arrest. The officers followed him through the mall and said he allegedly attempted to snatch a cellphone from the hand of an 80-year-old man who was sitting on a bench, but the older man thwarted his attempt.
Police detained the man and with help from the loss prevention officers recovered the stolen property: items of clothing and perfume. The loss prevention officers and 80-year-old man did not report any physical injuries, according to the press release.
The 49-year-old was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of felony robbery and elder abuse. He had six outstanding warrants from Santa Cruz County for various felony and misdemeanor violations, including identity theft, forgery, possession of stolen property, misappropriation of lost property, vandalism and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to [email protected] or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.
Editor's note: Palo Alto Online's policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the district attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. Read our guidelines.
Comments
Registered user
Green Acres
on Aug 10, 2022 at 10:08 am
Registered user
on Aug 10, 2022 at 10:08 am
Re: "He had six outstanding warrants from Santa Cruz County for various felony and misdemeanor violations..."
Maybe the current fad for not holding people in jail has gone too far...
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:06 am
Registered user
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:06 am
Attempted robbery of an 80-year-old person along with serious outstanding warrants…this criminal feels confident and this is not right.
Please contact your state senator and state assemblymember to cite this case and the need for harsher sentences and increased law enforcement in California.
If their response is that there’s too many people in prison/jail, well, so what, dangerous criminals must be kept locked up to protect society.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:15 am
Registered user
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:15 am
"He had six outstanding warrants from Santa Cruz County for various felony and misdemeanor violations, including identity theft, forgery, possession of stolen property, misappropriation of lost property, vandalism and possession of drug paraphernalia."
Now that the suspect has been arrested, there is no justification for releasing him on his own recognizance and bail should be set accordingly if the possibility remains an option.
It is time to reinstitute full-scale law and order regardless of woke mentalities and liberal permissiveness.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:27 am
Registered user
on Aug 10, 2022 at 11:27 am
@Clarissa Ward, I agree.It's just common sense, regardless of political persuasion I'm so tired of reading about all of the the suspects' priors while reading reports of his/her latest.
Registered user
Crescent Park
on Aug 11, 2022 at 6:11 am
Registered user
on Aug 11, 2022 at 6:11 am
Wish council had stuck to their ‘guns’ on a larger business tax in order to make a difference. Kind of ironic to see this story with the anemic tax