A woman waiting for her husband to chat with band members at Lytton Plaza in downtown Palo Alto about 4 a.m. Sunday had her silver Toyota Prius carjacked at gunpoint, Agent Brian Philip reported.

The carjacker forced her to get out of the car and he drove off in it, Philip said. The woman said she felt the car door open on her side and thought it was her husband returning, but when she looked up she was looking into the barrel of a gun.

She described the man as Hispanic and wearing a beige or yellow shirt.

Philip and officers were in the area and called in the carjacking.

A short time later San Mateo police saw a car matching the description in the area of El Camino Real and Peninsula Avenue, near the San Mateo/Burlingame border and tried to make a traffic stop. But the car sped off and, after losing it for a few moments they found it parked and unoccupied, Philip reported.

But nearby a man was walking away from the vehicle and police detained him.

Palo Alto police took the woman victim to the scene and she made a positive identification.

The man was identified Raymond Charles Lewis, 33, of San Francisco. Philip said the man was intoxicated and had apparently been visiting a bar or bars in downtown Palo Alto and may have been trying to get back to San Francisco.

He was booked into Santa Clara County jail for carjacking and some warrants for evading taxi fares, Philip said, adding that he may also face charges of evading police and driving under the influence.

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19 Comments

  3. The suspect was described as Hispanic?!? Apparently his name is Raymond Charles Lewis, and his name does not sound Hispanic at all. Someone can explain? Thanks.

  5. A light skinned African American man in the dark when you’re terrified can certainly look Hispanic.

    So glad that he was caught and that no one was hurt.

  6. Good job officers! Its funny, I haven’t heard any of the usual handful of police critics come up with something they feel the cops did wrong in this situaiton. Also, where are the handful of peopel who usually post on this blog who say what an ultr-low crime rate Palo Alto has implying the cops have nothgin to do? Yep, they are usually pretty quiet after this “real crime” gets reported and the cops do an outstanding job.

  7. No offense to the PAPD – from the report they were hardworking and involved in this case. But, the real credit goes to the San Mateo PD who pursued the suspect in their city and arrested the individual in Burlingame.

  11. the police always convict a black man even with no evidence. victor frost threatened a diadvantaged black man and isnt even in jail!! why? cause hes white.

  12. Why was this career criminal running loose? And how do the instacritics know the victim was not Hispanic or Black, and what difference does it make?

  14. Haz, instead of pointing fingers at the police for this plight you mentioned, why don’t you spend your time influencing and preventing young men like this from choosing a criminal lifestyle. In the vast majority of cases, it’s a situation that these young men create, not the police or anyone else. It’s called being responsible and accountable. Stop enabling these gang members, punks and thugs by making excuses for their criminal behavior. Enough already. Try growing up and acting like a responsible adult.

  16. @Mike:

    No, Caltrain does not run at 4am. The last northbound train on a Saturday night stops at Palo Alto at 11:01pm. The first Sunday northbound train stops at Palo Alto at 8:31am.

    His option was to use SamTrans and connect to Muni.

  19. The woman either was drunk or she lives in a bubble; to wrongly describe the young black man as an Hispanic, outrageous!!!
    Probably she has strong bias against certain minority group.

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