Thieves Smash Van Into Palo Alto Camera Store, Steal Merchandise
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- Two Palo Alto suspects drove a minivan into the front window of a camera store Thursday morning and stole tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, a police spokesman said today.
Palo Alto police were alerted to a burglary in progress at Kebble & Shuchat Photography at 261 California Ave. at 4:32 a.m., but when officers arrived, the suspects had fled, Detective Sgt. Brian Philip said.
The plate glass windows, glass front doors and interior glass display cases had been shattered, an interior security gate and roll-down security gate bent and store merchandise appeared to be missing, Philip said.
While a store employee was still making a list of missing items today, the loss is so far estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars, he said.
From interviews with multiple witnesses in the area at the time of the burglary, it appears that two suspects likely put an older red minivan with dark-tinted windows in reverse and smashed into the front of the store, he said.
No one saw the crash, but one witness reported hearing a loud screech, followed by a noisy crash. Witnesses said they then saw the suspects get into the minivan and drive west at a high speed on California towards El Camino Real.
According to witnesses, the driver was a Hispanic male in his early- to mid-20s with a thin moustache wearing a black and white beanie with long pulls cords and a black sweatshirt.
The other suspect was described as a tall, thin man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans and shoes.
Witnesses said the rear license plate of the van was covered with black plastic.
No surveillance tape of the burglary was available for release today and police are not able to produce sketches of the suspects.
Detectives investigating the burglary are also looking at the possibility the same men burglarized Audio High, a high-end music and home theater system business on Moffett Boulevard in Mountain View, in the early morning of Feb. 9.
Two suspects, with their faces covered, entered that business at 2:40 a.m. that morning by smashing the front window with a sledgehammer.
The suspect vehicle used in the Mountain View burglary was similar and Mountain View police have released surveillance video of the vehicle and the suspects in the Feb. 9 crime on YouTube.
Anyone with information for Palo Alto police about the camera store burglary are urged to phone the department's 24-hour dispatch line at (650) 329-2413, or to provide an anonymous tip, call (650) 383-8984.
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