The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday, March 13, that charges would not be filed against the 22-year-old son of football legend and Atherton resident Jim Plunkett.

James Plunkett Jr. was arrested by Atherton police on February 4 for allegedly choking and sexually assaulting a Menlo Park woman two days earlier at a home on Kilroy Way in Atherton.

Prosecutor Greg Devitt said there was not enough evidence to file charges.

Mr. Plunkett’s attorney Chuck Smith said the woman and Mr. Plunkett had an on-again, off-again dating relationship for the past year. Mr. Plunkett lives in Arizona and was visiting his family in Atherton when he was arrested.

Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Plunkett led the Oakland Raiders to two Super Bowl victories in the 1980s and won the Heisman Trophy in 1970.

Suspect arrested in Atherton burglary

A suspect in several daytime burglaries in Atherton and Palo Alto was arrested Saturday by Palo Alto police.

Gregory Arnez Smith, 21, of East Palo Alto was arrested on burglary and gun-possession charges, said Palo Alto police.

A loaded gun was found during a search of Mr. Smith’s residence in the 1900 block of Capital Avenue in Palo Alto. The gun belongs to an Atherton resident, and the resident plans on filing burglary charges against Mr. Smith, said Atherton police Detective Kristin Nicholls.

Lightning strike closes Trader Joe’s

Lightning struck power transformers serving the downtown Menlo Park Trader Joe’s store shortly after 6 p.m. Friday night, knocking out its electricity for more than 24 hours. The specialty grocery store on Menlo Avenue was forced to close early on Friday, March 10, and stay closed all day on Saturday.

Power was restored by 8:45 p.m. Saturday by PG&E crews who replaced three damaged transformers, said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno.

Customers flocked to the store when it reopened Sunday, said a Trader Joe’s employee. He said the store didn’t lose any of its inventory, despite going without power. “We were here keeping dry ice on everything,” he said.

PG&E crews had their hands full dealing with power outages from multiple lightning strikes throughout the Bay Area. The Peninsula and San Francisco were especially hard hit by lightning, Mr. Moreno said.

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