Search For Los Altos Man Causes Lockdown

A missing Los Altos man believed to have been armed and in the Lexington Reservoir area caused county sheriff's deputies to issue a "code blue" lockdown at Wednesday morning.

While there was no specific threat, the safety measure began at about 10:35 a.m., and traffic was diverted for nearly two hours, before roads were re-opened at about 11:30 a.m., said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jose Cardoza. 

Law enforcement officials lifted the warning when they located the unidentified man safe and driving a white work van in a dirt parking lot next to Lexington Reservoir.

"The gentleman never a threat to the school," said Los Altos police Det. Abraham Velasco. The lockdown was done more as a precaution, he added.

Los Altos police were looking for the man because he had been involved in some sort of altercation late Tuesday evening, and had left his residence for an unknown location, Velasco said. A firearm was located in the vehicle, but the man was not cited, and there was no arrest.

"It was never a criminal case," Velasco added. He described it as a missing person/check-on-welfare case.

Code blue lockdowns are emergency protocol used when there is an emergency or some kind a crisis near a school, but no imminent danger. 

At 9:54 a.m. sheriff's deputies were contacted by Los Altos police asking for help in locating the man believed to have been in the vicinity of Old Santa Cruz Highway and Summit Road in the Los Gatos, said Cardoza of the sheriff's department.

"We notified the school that we were working an incident with a possibly armed person nearby," he said, adding that the department takes these precautions whenever it receives information such as this.

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies began diverting traffic and closed down the intersection of Summit and Zayante roads at around 10 a.m. to set up a perimeter for protection, Cardoza said. A total of nine deputies responded.

The man's identity was not released because it's protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, Velasco said.

On Wednesday morning, the unusual road closure caused several motorists to express concern and ask what caused it. 

Los Gatos resident Karen Fairburn said her daughter called her to tell her she was re-routed by sheriff's deputies around Lexington Elementary.

"Police told all cars to turn around to get to Highway 17. When on 17 she looked over and saw a white worker van and there were about 20 police officers and guns were all over," she said.

Lexington Elementary School Principal David Freed said at 10:40 a.m. the school received a phone call from sheriff's deputies instructing them to begin lockdown procedures.

Freed said parents were informed of the lockdown via the district's AlertNow emergency communication system and that the school had practiced lockdown procedures during a Jan. 24 drill.

After the 20-minute security measure, the school went back to normal operations. "It was a pretty quick lockdown, but certainly very effective."