|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Menlo Park police officers arrested a female teen Wednesday night after she allegedly tried, and failed, to drive away with a vehicle that had been parked in downtown Menlo Park.
Police officers responded to a reported theft just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, on the 600 block of Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Menlo Park. They had received a report that a downtown business owner and her mother had been unloading merchandise into their shop, and while in the business, heard an engine rev, according to police.
They went to see their vehicle, parked in front of the business, and found a female teen in the driver’s seat who appeared to be rummaging through property in the vehicle.
When the business owner asked what the girl was doing, she reportedly began trying to put the car in drive, but appeared not to know how to do so. Despite efforts by the business owner’s mother to keep the girl inside the vehicle until the police arrived, she broke loose and ran from the scene with a stolen wallet belonging to the business owner, according to police.
About 20 minutes later, police found a girl matching the suspect’s description several blocks away, but did not find the stolen wallet. The teen, a 16-year-old from East Palo Alto, was arrested for attempted carjacking and released to her mother on a promise to appear in court, according to police.
Witnesses with information related to the case are asked to contact Detective Josh Russell at 650-330-6364 or jprussell@menlopark.org.