Why are the license plate and door seal blurred out in the photo?

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It should be a law that in order to operate a business in (county name) business have to install and operate security cameras.

Maybe he needed the vehicle for a family emergency or was late for work. Being that the truck was abandoned and located at Stanford the following day clearly indicates that he had no intention of keeping it. He was probably in a hurry to get from point A to point B and maybe too embarrassed to ask for a lift.

Mark Silverman,

I'm confused. Are you justifying stealing a vehicle because you're late for work?

QUOTE: Mark Silverman,
I'm confused. Are you justifying stealing a vehicle because you're late for work?

I am not justifying any perceived crime. Just saying that the guy apparently had his reasons. Until you can walk in another man's shoes (which is impossible), who are we to judge someone's act of desperation? Perhaps we put too much value on material things these days. It was just a truck for crying out loud, no one was injured. That's what you have auto insurance for.

We quit using that gas station due to scary people milling around, because the employees don't care about the customers' safety [portion removed.]

@Mark Silverman - Carjacking is a "perceived crime"?? Sheesh, of course you are justifying a real crime, please at least own what you are doing. You are also acting liek teh victim of the crime is some inanimate object, the car, but you ignore the VICTIM a real person who had their life threatened. How about you think about walking in their shoes. They probably aren't sleeping as well tonight as you.

This article is poorly patched from the original and an update. They recovered the vehicle, but it still reads "the vehicle was last seen...".
Editors, step it up, please!

Quote: @Mark Silverman - Carjacking is a "perceived crime"?? Sheesh, of course you are justifying a real crime, please at least own what you are doing.

In regards to a 'perceived crime', my kids have misappropriated the family cars from time to time and have even threatened various repercussions if they didn't get their way. As a parent, you often have to put your foot down (or reprimand them accordingly for certain inexcusable indiscretions). But I'm certainly not going to call it a blatant crime or have them tracked by the police as law enforcement officers have more pressing things to do.

I've has a car stolen once (a late model BMW) and insurance took care of it via the loss protection coverage. I slept well knowing everything was being taken care of.

I thought that gas station has security surveillance cameras. Seems irresponsible not to have those.

Forgot to add. As long as no one was injured in the process, a vehicle is easily replaceable. Besides, I wouldn't want a stolen car returned as I'd just as soon get a new replacement. You never know what took place in that car during its absence.

I wish someone would steal my old pick-up. Hell, I'd even give them the keys but wouldn't want that issue to come up in the case of an eventual arrest.

The only disturbing fact was that the perpetrator drove off without returning the gas hose and nozzle to the pump. This would make it difficult for other customers to gas-up.

Threatening a guy and stealing his major property ARE crimes. No excuses.

@Mark Silverman, I'm still confused.

"In regards to a 'perceived crime', my kids have misappropriated the family cars from time to time and have even threatened various repercussions if they didn't get their way."

Your own kids taking things without permission is in a whole different ballpark from being threatened by a stranger who appears to have a gun. But let's suppose the carjacker had a family emergency or was late for work. Now he'll get where he needs to be, but what if the victim also had a family emergency or was late for work?

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Threatening a guy and stealing his major property ARE crimes. No excuses.
@Crime is crime

agree. perhaps the key is not to use threatening gestures during the course of committing a crime. if apprehended and convicted, restraint can shorten incarceration time which is a significant consideration (and often a hindsight).

it's too bad we can't have cars available for everyone's use like google does with bicycles. liability probably negates the overall viability of such a practice.

Your own kids taking things without permission is in a whole different ballpark from being threatened by a stranger who appears to have a gun. But let's suppose the carjacker had a family emergency or was late for work. Now he'll get where he needs to be, but what if the victim also had a family emergency or was late for work?
@Anke

that's why we need informal ride-sharing in PA and other communities. there are way too many single drivers creating traffic gridlock and taxi drivers always have a way of running up the tab.

we are supposedly an enlightened society (especially here in Palo Alto). it's time to reach out to our fellow man and share the expenses of everyday life as some can afford it more easily than others.

too many people nowadays living in their shallow world of fancy restaurants, BMWs and real estate investments. it's time to move on to a higher plane of existence.

"it's too bad we can't have cars available for everyone's use like google does with bicycles."

"we are supposedly an enlightened society (especially here in Palo Alto). it's time to reach out to our fellow man and share the expenses of everyday life as some can afford it more easily than others."

Very nice sentiments, @A Millennial View. Unfortunately, human nature will always thwart such plans. The experiment has been conducted numerous times (for example, the 1960s-'70s in the USA and Europe). It never works out how people imagine (example: Altamont '69).

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I'd like to see Silverman pull a similar stunt in the Central Valley (or any barrio) using his brand of logic. We'd see just how far he would get in terms of 'borrowing' someone else's car in order to run a brief personal errand.

As for the idealistic Stanford/Millennial, fortunately I'll be dead by the time you and your kind have any real say or an active role in policy-making.
In the meantime, talk is cheap.

Sometimes reading PAOnline is mind-boggling. How do we know "He had a driver's license that gave him permission to drive just about any vehicle" and what's that got to do w/what reportedly happened? And how does the fact that the STOLEN truck was found parked on campus mean that the person who took it was either in a hurry or dealing with an emergency? That's a huge leap of a conclusion. Was it found near the hospital's ER?

It's great that no one was hurt and the truck has been recovered, but those good facts hardly excuse what happened.

Scrolling downwards, it's not too difficult to differentiate those with common sense/basic values from the lunatics.

Having a valid driver's license is also a license to steal? Giving benefit of the doubt to the perpetrator because he may have had an exigency? Free Google cars for those who cannot afford an automobile?

Being a native Texan and a former SEAL, that guy would have gotten the Walker Texas Ranger treatment from me had he pulled the same stunt while I was filling-up my pick-up. With a certain pleasure to boot I might add.

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"Being a native Texan and a former SEAL, that guy would have gotten the Walker Texas Ranger treatment from me had he pulled the same stunt while I was filling-up my pick-up. With a certain pleasure to boot I might add."

What if the perp is a CURRENT Navy SEAL? Hmmm?

Anyway, I got inside info that all that Walker TR stuff was scripted and staged for TV.


"He had a driver's license that gave him permission to drive just about any vehicle. What do you expect?"

You saw it? Wake up and help the cops. What name and address were on it?

Palo Alto will never become a sanctuary city. Too upscale as its residents and businesses are striving to maintain their property values for future inflationary profit margins. It's also hog-heaven for upscale RE agents given their lucrative sales commission percentages and a seemingly ongoing mantra, "Baby needs a new Mercedes."

It's kind of like Marin County where people love to spew their open-minded and progressive ideals so long as none of the repercussions of social change actually take place in their respective neighborhoods and downtown shopping/dining areas.

Sound familiar?

Keep in mind that carjackings are very dangerous. Lots of bad things can happen.

The fact that this one appears to have ended without anyone being hurt, or even property damage, does not lessen the seriousness of the crime.

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Posted by Curmudgeon
a resident of Downtown North

What if the perp is a CURRENT Navy SEAL? Hmmm?


He was clearly UNSAT. so no, he would not be an operator

Mark Silverman,

Would you encourage your children to "borrow" a perfect stranger's car if they were having a bad day? You can't steal things and then try to say that it was only borrowing. Just try to walk into a bank with a gun (or pretend to have one) and use that logic: "I was running late, and I was only borrowing the money." Good luck with that!

Since you're being benevolent to the truck-jacker and his feelings, I'll stand in the victim's shoes. Think about the fear he may have been feeling when this jerk came up behind him and demanded that he back away from the truck?!! For goodness sake, what if the victim had a heart attack?

Maybe the victim was late for work as a result. Is that okay? That's not being materialistic either.

If I were the victim, I'd want this guy prosecuted to the full extent of the law to show him that what he did was illegal does NOT matter if he was late for work; was embarrassed...It was a crime.

Don't even get me started on the reasoning that there's vehicle insurance...

Nobody can convince me that my logic is wrong.

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For those who disagree with my views and opinions, I can understand your apprehensions as it comes with a certain lack of spiritual attainment or personal evolution in regards to one's 'higher' and/or 'eternal' self. Until we learn to genuinely love and accept even those who are trying screw us along with overcoming our fears (especially in regards to material possessions), we will never rise higher than the high-tech apes that we are and human contentiousness will continue to run rampant during the course of our everyday lives.

While I enjoy driving my BMW and wearing nice clothes, if someone else coveted them I would and could easily pass these items on as I have learned the difference between enjoyment and happiness. It took years to achieve this state of mind but now that I am there, I would never want to return to an existence governed by paranoia over the loss (or theft) of various designer goods and the assessed value of my home in Menlo Park. Life is too short.

So yes, the alleged thief was a 'bad boy' and caused some anguish on the part of the truck owner. The pick-up has been recovered and since there is seemingly little to go on, this incident will probably become a 'cold case' (unless noticeably repeated).

George Clinton once wrote, "Free your mind and your a** will follow." Try it sometime, you might enjoy the outcome. Peace

The Silverman is a parody account?

"The Silverman is a parody account?"

I think he is some sort of gentrified prophet. Either that or an 8-ball.

Mark Silverman,

After some thought, I wonder if you are pulling the collective leg of the readers of the comments.

I had no idea that I was dealing with the saint that you appear to be. I would have assumed that anyone with your qualities did not need to brag about them when trying to educate us mere mortals.

By the way, currently, I like my a** where it is. So tell me, how comfortable is the throne you're sitting on?

If we had service station attendants who filled your car with gas and checked the oil like in the old days, this incident would never have occurred.

The problem with self-service gasoline is that you have to get out of the car and do it yourself. In a affluent town like Palo Alto, we should have gas stations where paid employees handle these tasks on our behalf. It used to be that way as my son worked his way through San Jose State working part-time as a gas station attendant back in the 1950s. There were many service stations back in those days and no one ever filled their own car with gas. The attendants even washed the front and rear windows and checked the air in your tires. They also wore white uniforms and looked quite professional especially at Chevron and Standard stations.

No one hijacked cars in those days while people were buying gas. What has this world come to?

"No one hijacked cars in those days while people were buying gas. What has this world come to?"

While car hijackings may have been rarer or non-existent back in the 50s, service station robberies were more frequent. We can't have it both ways unless the modern day service station attendant is either armed or trained in the martial arts which would then make service stations a very safe environment in most cases.

The only drawback is that gas might be a bit more expensive. Figure about $20.00+ per gallon depending upon seasonal blend.

Funny how this kind of stuff doesn't seem to occur while people are charging their hybrids and electric cars. Maybe those places are more mellow and don't attract car thieves.

@M. Driscoll

RIGHT ON!! Thank you!

Folks: "Mark Silverman" is trolling you. Nobody would be OK with having their vehicle taken from them under threat of violence.

As I was saying, one of the reasons we quit being customers of that gas station- after decades of our family using it - was because of the disrespectful and questionable behavior of the clerks toward the women in my family. It wasn't a fluke, it was ongoing. The clerks were also disinterested in how the weirdoes milling around harass customers. So, we quit complaining and took our business elsewhere. It's too bad that the owner hasn't done enough about these problems and has lost business over it. I'm really sorry for the victim of this scary carjacking. It's a relief that he's unharmed and that his truck was found not far away.

A current joke that is making the rounds cross-country that may explain his behavior:
What is the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?

As for the carjacking, horse thieves got hung because they were stealing the transportation and livelihood of the owner. Now, these deterrent measures are sorely needed today. A public hanging would be a great deterrent today. Unfortunately, we don't have that option today. More people sympathize with the " poor carjacker " these days.

@Paul S. "We can't have it both ways " So we either have to have carjackings, or service station robberies? That's a weird trade-off you are proposing.

The incremental cost of adding some security cameras would probably a fraction of a penny per gallon, not tens of dollars. Arming the attendant might be ill advised, but would be even cheaper than cameras.

While robberies and carjackings have been declining at a large rate for the last 20 years, the numbers are still double what they were in the 50s and early 60s.

Silverman: Let's wait and see how you feel/react when something like this happens to you.

Silverman: > my kids have misappropriated the family cars from time to time and have even threatened various repercussions if they didn't get their way. <

More than once?
Speaks very poorly of your parenting skills. My teens never did anything like that. Maybe you have more kids than you can manage. Unsafe and dishonest.

Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?