Beer Thieves Shun Bullets, Shoot Electrons

PALO ALTO – Beer thief suspects running from a Palo Alto convenience store Wednesday night used electricity rather than bullets to thwart off their pursuers. A Taser-like weapon was shot at pursuing store employees by an accomplice of a second suspect who stole two cases of beer.

Police report that about 11:39 p.m., they responded to a report of a robbery that had occurred about twenty minutes earlier at the 7-Eleven at 708 Colorado Avenue.

Their investigation revealed that one of the three on-duty employees (a man in his forties) had been outside the store on a break when he saw a sedan arrive with four people in it and park in a nearby parking lot. Two of the passengers got out.

According to police, while one passenger struck up a casual conversation with the employee outside, the other went inside the store. A short time later, that suspect ran out of the business carrying two cases of beer with two other employees (a man and a woman, both in their fifties) in pursuit.

As the three employees chased the two men back to their car, police say, the suspect who had stayed outside brandished a Taser-like weapon at them and caused the electricity in it to arc.

The employees stopped chasing them, and the suspects returned to the car. Witnesses say it drove off eastbound on Colorado Avenue. No one was hurt.

Police describe the suspect who brandished the weapon as a Hispanic male in his twenties, about 6 feet tall with a thin build. He had short black hair, was clean-shaven, and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants.

The suspect who shoplifted the beer - and is shown in the surveillance shot - is described as a Hispanic male in his twenties, about 5 feet 5 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, khaki shorts, and black tennis shoes.

Police say the suspect vehicle is a black four-door sedan. The victims could not describe the two suspects who remained in the vehicle.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413.

Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

-image courtesy Palo Alto PD