Duck Gets Stuck in Storm Drain, Stolen Bikes, Protesters at Whole Foods and More

Parents – remember to keep an eye on your kids while shopping! After all, we’ve gotta think it’s pretty embarrassing when the cops show up at the business you’re patronizing and reprimand you because your kids just called 9-1-1 from the business’ phone while you weren’t looking. We do sympathize, though.

Los Altos Police started off the morning Friday by serving a warrant from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office to a suspect in the 700 block of Berry Avenue. The male suspect was wanted for an outstanding DUI charge.

A little bit of good news came for one family Friday morning around 9:45 a.m. when a prior missing juvenile report was cancelled. The reporting party called back to say the juvenile had been located. Phew!

One unlucky resident of Middleton Court woke up Saturday morning to discover that someone had opened her unlocked vehicle overnight and stolen her wallet, camera and bag containing a number of items. All of that added up to a report for grand theft from an automobile for the Los Altos Police officers who responded. So far, there are no suspects.

Things got a little interesting Saturday evening around 8:30 p.m. when officers decided to perform a random probation compliance check to a person in the 1000 block of Eureka Avenue. As officers conducted a search of the home, they found a bicycle that the suspect could not prove belonged to him or her, so the officers confiscated it. Interestingly, then, on Monday, a father and son came into the police department to report that the son’s bicycle had been stolen from on Friday – which, it turned out, was the very same bike officers had found at the suspect’s home during their search Saturday. The happy boy got his bike back, and the suspect on probation got some bad news, we're guessing.

Presumably there were some pretty embarrassed parents in downtown Sunday. Just before 2:30 p.m., some kids broke away from mom or dad while visiting a business on Jordan Avenue and called 9-1-1 from the business’ phone. Police responded and reprimanded the children and parents.

The police and Animal Control had a little bit of hero work to do Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. when they received a call that a poor, defenseless duck was stuck in a storm drain at Otis Way and Mills Avenue. Thankfully, the duck was rescued.

Police were busy rushing all over town responding to complaints about gas-powered leaf-blowers Monday morning – in fact, three within a half-hour. The first complaint came from the 400 block of Cuesta Drive around 9:45 a.m. Police located the person and gave a warning that gas-powered leaf-blowers are a violation of the City’s municipal code. The second complaint came from the 1000 block of Covington Road roughly eight minutes later. Again, police gave a warning. The third offender wasn’t quite so lucky, though. A complaint came in around 10:11 a.m. from Arthur Court and Granger Avenue. This person received a citation from police.

Around 8:30 a.m. Monday, police got a call from the staff at on Hillview Avenue that they had discovered damage to their storage shed – presumably made by someone who had tried to break into it over the weekend. Thankfully, though the lock was damaged, it appeared the would-be burglars did not gain entry into the shed. Police took a report for malicious mischief and vandalism. So far, there are no suspects.

Later that morning, just before noon, a call came in from the 600 bock of Giraldo Drive about a dog-versus-dog fight. Police responded and took a report, and referred the matter to City code enforcement to deal with the aggressor dog.

At noon on Monday, police received a report of graffiti to a street sign at Fremont and A streets. Police referred the matter to municipal services.

As we reported earlier this week, Los Altos seems to be as of late. Two bicycles were simultaneously reported stolen Monday afternoon, at 12:04 and 12:05 p.m. The first was from  on W. Portola Avenue. The second was from . Reports for petty theft were taken by police, who offer residents some very important tips – never leave your bike at school overnight, and of course, always lock up your bike.

Monday evening around 8:30 p.m., police got a call from a resident in the 1000 block of McKenzie Avenue who wished to report fraud. The female resident had received a number of invoices in the mail for products she had not ordered nor received, using a credit card in her name that she did not have. Police took a report. So far, they have no suspects.

Unfortunately, that resident wasn’t the only one who discovered they were the victim of credit card fraud this past week. On Tuesday morning, officers took a report from someone who lives in the 200 block of Portola Avenue, who had discovered approximately $14,000 in fraudulent, unauthorized purchases on his credit card. The resident is reportedly working with his bank to try and get the charges reversed, so police provided him with a report to assist him with the process.

Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m., police made their first more serious arrest of the week, when a suspect was caught in possession of a controlled substance near the intersection of El Camino Real and Jordan Avenue. The suspect was arrested and booked into jail.

A short while later, just before 12:30, officers were called to  on El Camino Real on a report of Occupy protesters causing a disturbance. Officers responded and helped keep an eye on the situation.

One unlucky resident appears to have been the unfortunate resident of a pick-pocketing thief Tuesday afternoon while shopping on Main Street around lunchtime. A female resident called the police around 1:30 p.m. to report that she had discovered items missing from her purse – namely, a couple of checks made out to her and, oddly enough, some color swatches. She said she remembers someone bumping into her while she was leaving a store a short while before, so she believes she may have been pick-pocketed. Police took a report for petty theft. 

Another unfortunate incident also took place on Main Street in downtown on Tuesday afternoon. Around 2:45 p.m. someone called the police to report that he or she had just gone inside for only 15 minutes, and when he or she exited the restaurant, discovered that the tires on his or her car had been slashed or punctured by an unknown suspect. Police took a report for vandalism to a vehicle. So far, the police have no suspects.

One family got a scare Wednesday morning when they were unable to locate a family member, and called the police to report a missing person. Thankfully, when officers responded, they helped the family conduct a search and the person was found.

Bike thefts continued to ramp up when from Los Altos High. The call came in to police around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. Police responded and took a report.

One couple was apparently not having a good morning on Thursday. Police were called to the at 4320 El Camino Real around 10:30 a.m. because the husband and wife were arguing so loudly in the parking lot, it scared people around them, who called the police. Though the argument was verbal only, police took a report for a disturbance just to be safe.

One unlucky soul who was probably just trying to enjoy a leisurely stroll at the farmer’s market Thursday afternoon unfortunately didn’t pay attention to parking instructions. Police were called to the 200 block of State Street just after 2:30 to tow and ticket a car that was parked where it shouldn’t have been.

The information in this article was provided by the Los Altos Police Department. Where arrests are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

For questions about this police log, contact L.A. Chung, Los Altos Patch Editor, at lachung@patch.com.