Full Notification

On March 20th, 2015, at approximately 10:07 A.M., the Menlo Park Police Department received a call from an alert resident advising police of a suspicious vehicle in the area of Bay Laurel Drive and Olive Street in Menlo Park. The resident said that he noticed a vehicle driving slowly in the area and then park on Bay Laurel Dr. near Olive St. The resident stated that the vehicle matched the description of one he had seen on the “Nextdoor-The Oaks” email group, as associated with a residential burglary that had occurred several days before on Stanford Ave. The alert resident further advised that three Hispanic male subjects currently occupied the vehicle.

Menlo Park Police Officers immediately responded to the area and located the vehicle parked and occupied by a sole occupant on Bay Laurel Dr. The occupant was contacted and detained. Additional officers arrived in the area and began to conduct a neighborhood canvas for the other two outstanding subjects. During that search, officers heard a commotion and then observed two subjects running from a residence in the 1500 block of Bay Laurel Dr. A residence, whose owner had just arrived home, discovered two subjects inside his home committing a burglary. After a short foot pursuit ,during which the suspects dropped several bags of stolen property, officers were able to capture and arrest one subject. The second subject was able to elude capture by jumping several fences between residences within the neighborhood. With the assistance of Palo Alto, Atherton and Redwood City Police Departments as well as the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, a perimeter was established and an extensive canine search conducted.

At approximately 11:40 am the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office canine team observed the outstanding subject hiding in the rear yard of a residence on Olive Street, a yard adjacent to where they were currently searching. Seeing the officers, the subject jumped another fence and ran across Olive Street and onto Oak Avenue with officers giving chase. During that chase, a Palo Alto Police Department officer was able to deploy his Taser, effectively stopping the subject. Officers were then able to take him into custody without further incident. That suspect was treated at the scene by Menlo Park Fire, and then transported to San Mateo County General Hospital for further treatment. Once medically cleared, he will be transported and booked into the San Mateo County Jail.

At this time, it appears that all of the stolen property from the interrupted residential burglary on Bay Laurel Dr. has been recovered and returned to its owners.

While processing the interrupted burglary scene and involved vehicle on Bay Laurel Dr., Menlo Park Police Dispatch received another report of a residential burglary that had occurred on the 1200 block of Hobart Street in Menlo Park. At this time, it appears that the same subjects were involved in that burglary as well, as a large amount, if not all of the stolen property from that burglary was located in the suspect vehicle.

At this time, the Menlo Park Police Department is not releasing the names of the subjects arrested, as they have not yet been booked into the San Mateo County Jail. They are two 18-year-olds and one 19-year-old Hispanic male from Redwood City. An additional Press Release with suspect names and charges filed will be sent once their identities are confirmed and they are booked into the San Mateo County Jail.

The Menlo Park Police Department would like to extend its thanks to all of the residents and outside agencies who assisted with the successful apprehension and arrests of these three burglars. Additionally, the Menlo Park Police is asking anyone who might have information about this case, and/or who witnessed these incidents, to call Menlo Park Police Officer Tommei at (650) 330-63851 or the Menlo Park Police Anonymous Tip Hotline at (650) 330-6395.

For more information on this release contact:
Sergeant Kevin Paugh at [email protected]