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Daly City Pizza-Stealing Suspect's Silence Baffles Investigators

DALY CITY (CBS SF) - Nearly a month after Daly City police arrested a man for stealing frozen pizzas from a Lucky supermarket, San Mateo County investigators are still trying to identify him.

The suspect, who remains in custody, is described as a Filipino man in his mid-40s to mid-50s. He hasn't said a word since his May 30 arrest.

Officers went to the Lucky store at 6843 Mission St. at about 6:45 a.m. that day after receiving a call from employees reporting a theft, Daly City police Sgt. Mike Barton said.

They found the suspect with two frozen pizzas and a couple of candy bars, Barton said.

He was not carrying any identification and did not respond to any verbal commands or questions from police, Barton said.

After a brief period of observation in a mental health unit, the suspect was transferred to jail, and authorities have been struggling for weeks in their quest to identify him.

Rich Fischer, an investigator with the county's private defender program, said the man's fingerprints have been run through DMV and criminal databases but have not returned any results.

The man has physically responded to some verbal commands in English, but has not spoken or written any words.

On one occasion, he was given a pencil and paper and asked by a nurse if he was happy or sad, to which he responded by drawing a happy face, Fischer said.

Inquiries have been made at missing persons units in San Francisco, South San Francisco and Daly City without any results.

Fischer said he is heading an investigation team that plans to return to Lucky on Saturday and fan out through the neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking residents for information about the man's identity.

He has black curly hair and brown eyes, stands about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs between 130 and 140 pounds.

Anyone who might have information about the case is asked to contact Rich Fischer at (650) 344-8727.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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