Police searching for suspected car burglar in north Palo Alto

By the Daily Post staff

UPDATE, 10:44 p.m. — Police called off their search for a car burglar tonight following a foot chase and an extensive search in the North Palo Alto neighborhood.

ORIGINAL STORY, 10:20 p.m. — Palo Alto police and a CHP plane tonight (Aug. 2) are searching for a car burglar who disappeared while being chased by officers near Alma Street and San Francisquito Creek.

The chase started at 8:27 p.m., when a breathless officer said the burglar was running north toward Alma Street and down to the creek at Palo Alto Park. Officers were running after the man, calling in their locations on the police radio as they went along.

The burglar disappeared near the railroad trestle that crosses over the creek near El Palo Alto.

At about 8:45, Palo Alto police asked the CHP to bring in a plane, which was in Napa, to join the search. The plane refueled in Oakland and arrived in Palo Alto at 10:20 to begin searching for the suspect. The pilot started scanning the creek from El Camino Real east toward Highway 101.

Police also had dogs looking for the man in the creek.

The burglar was described as a black man with a shaved head in his early to mid-20s, standing about 6 foot 2 to 6 foot 3 inches tall with a skinny build. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Police detained and identified a man at 8:59 p.m. at Alma Street and E. Creek Drive on the Menlo Park side of the creek. But they determined that even though he was on parole for robbery, he wasn’t their suspect.