Berkeley Carjacking Suspects Nabbed In Palo Alto

BERKELEY, CA — New automated license plate recognition cameras recently installed in Palo Alto led to five arrests Tuesday, including three men wanted in a Berkeley carjacking, according to police.

In a news release Thursday, Palo Alto police said a black 2021 Toyota Carolla was stolen at gunpoint just before midnight Monday. The victim told police the three men were armed with handguns.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, Palo Alto officers received an alert from the plate camera, flagging the vehicle entering city limits. Patrol officers worked with undercover colleagues to search for the car, receiving another alert a few minutes later. Officers found the car backed into a parking stall on the east side of the Stanford Shopping Center.

Undercover officers kept watch on the vehicle, noting that it was next to another backed-in vehicle, and the occupants of both cars were speaking with one another. As marked police vehicles neared, both vehicles pulled away and began driving through the shopping center's parking lot.

Police moved in for a traffic stop as the two vehicles approached the exit onto El Camino Real. Officials said the man driving the stolen Corolla tried to drive up on the sidewalk to evade police but was blocked by a police vehicle. The Corolla hit the patrol car before coming to a stop, but officials said no one was injured.

Officers took the three carjacking suspects into custody without incident, along with the four occupants of the second vehicle.

Working with Berkeley detectives, Palo Alto police determined the second car had taken the suspects to the scene of the original carjacking. Investigators said a search of the stolen Corolla revealed a loaded Glock handgun with a high-capacity magazine on the backseat. Tracking down the firearm, police determined it had been stolen from a home in Fresno at some point in the last three weeks.

The three carjacking suspects were arrested by the Berkeley Police Department, and Palo Alto police booked two of the men into Santa Clara County's Main Jail. The other two suspects that were detained were released without charges, with no evidence they had committed a crime, police said.

City officials noted six automated license plate cameras only went live during the last week of July, with 14 more scheduled for installation in the coming weeks.

Anyone with information on the case can contact dispatch at 650-329-2413.