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Palo Alto police arrested a man on suspicion of shoplifting merchandise, physically resisting loss prevention personnel and attempting to rob an 80-year-old man at Stanford Shopping Center on Monday.
A loss prevention employee at Macy’s in the Stanford Shopping Center notified police at about 3:19 p.m. on Monday that a shoplifting incident was in progress. The loss prevention officer reported that the man had physically resisted them and allegedly attempted to steal a cellphone from someone in the mall as he fled, according to a police press release.
The man, a 49-year-old Santa Cruz resident, had allegedly tried to steal $350 worth of merchandise. Two loss prevention officers claimed that the man shoved them when they attempted to place him under a private person’s arrest. The officers followed him through the mall and said he allegedly attempted to snatch a cellphone from the hand of an 80-year-old man who was sitting on a bench, but the older man thwarted his attempt.
Police detained the man and with help from the loss prevention officers recovered the stolen property: items of clothing and perfume. The loss prevention officers and 80-year-old man did not report any physical injuries, according to the press release.
The 49-year-old was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of felony robbery and elder abuse. He had six outstanding warrants from Santa Cruz County for various felony and misdemeanor violations, including identity theft, forgery, possession of stolen property, misappropriation of lost property, vandalism and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.
Editor’s note: Palo Alto Online’s policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the district attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. Read our guidelines.
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