By the Daily Post staff
Palo Alto police say they caught one of the two men who burglarized a bicycle shop on El Camino Real on Thursday (April 28) morning, but the other one fled in a van with tools flying out of the back.
Police received a silent burglar alarm activation at 4:32 a.m. at the Cardinal Bike Shop, 1955 El Camino Real, and officers quickly arrived to find two men coming out of the front smashed window of the business.
One of them ran from officers but was caught moments later. The other guy jumped in a white Ford Transit T-250 van, which had been stolen on Wednesday in San Jose.
Police last saw the van on the Stanford campus, driving away at a high rate of speed with tools coming out of the back.
Police determined the pair had taken cash from a register in the bike store. Officers said they found the stolen money on the suspect they arrested and returned it to the business owner.
At 6:20 a.m., a passer-by spotted the stolen van in the 800 block of Bowdoin Street at Stanford. Police processed the van for evidence and then returned it to its owner.
Arrested was Miguel Arturo Garcia, 36, of San Jose, who was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for commercial burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle, conspiracy, committing a felony while out on bail, and resisting arrest. All the charges are felonies except for resisting.
Police said the guy who got away is an Hispanic man in his 30s with short brown hair and unshaven. Police continue to look for him.
Garcia remains in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Good work to the police for getting to these guys so fast. Hope other would-be burglars read this and think twice about coming to Palo Alto.