Crime & Safety

This Week from the Los Altos Police Log: Feb. 17-23

Drivers with suspended or nonexistent licenses, malfunctioning residential alarms, possible gunshots fired downtown and credit card fraud kept the Los Altos Police Department busy this past week.

Editor's Note: The information in this log was supplied by the . Where arrests are indicated, it does not indicate a conviction.

 

It appears accidental or malfunctioning residential alarms were being set off all over the city this week. There were incidents on the police log nearly every day this past week, of Los Altos police officers being called to residences to investigate sounding alarms. In every case, the logs indicate police determined the alarms were set off accidentally or the alarms malfunctioned. So, the lesson of the week is - if you have an alarm on your home, you may want to get it checked periodically to make sure it's in tip-top shape.

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In other news, on Friday, Feb. 17, Los Altos police responded to a report of a live wire down in the street in the 200 block of Alvarado Avenue. The incident was referred to PG&E. Later that day, around 5 p.m., officers were called to the intersection of Foothill Expressway and Edith Avenue because a pile of wood was blocking the roadway. Officers responded and moved the wood out of the way of traffic.

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On Saturday, the Los Altos Police Department was kept busy with multiple 9-1-1 hangups. Officers called back every number that dialed 9-1-1 and hung up, and in each case, the caller apologized and said he or she had dialed by accident.

Just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, police received a report of a possible drunk driver in the area of Foothill Expressway and Grant Road. Officers notified the county sheriff's office and advised everyone to be on the lookout. However, no such driver was ever located.

 

In the early hours of Sunday morning, police received a call of a noise complaint due to a loud, outdoor party in the 600 block of San Martin Place. Officers visited the site of the party and advised them to move indoors.

Later that morning, around 10:15, police took a report for an auto burglary. A car was reportedly stolen from the intersection of Cuesta Drive and Lassen Street.  Barely an hour later, at 11:19 a.m., police took another report, of property stolen from an unlocked vehicle nearby, in the 400 block of Lassen Street.

Just before 3:30 p.m., police received an angry complaint of a loud dog barking at a home in the 200 block of Delphi Circle. The owners were not home, so police contacted them by phone. The owners apologized and said their dog sitter would be arriving at the residence shortly. Police gave the owners a stern warning.

 

On Monday morning, police received a report complaining about noisy construction taking place in the 400 block of Cypress Drive at 7:55 a.m. However, officers explained that the construction taking place was allowed, as the President's Day holiday is not a recognized holiday in the city's municipal code on which construction is banned. No report was made.

Less than a half-hour later, officers were alerted to possible gunshots heard in the 100 block of Main Street, downtown. However, officers executed a thorough search of the area and were not able to find any evidence of gunfire or any suspicious persons.

That afternoon, around 2:10, officers stopped a driver at N. San Antonio Road and E. Portola Avenue and found the driver to be driving with a suspended license. The driver was cited to appear in court for the violation, and released. Another driver was found to be driving without a license near the intersection of El Camino Way and El Camino Real near the Palo Alto border around 5:15 p.m. That driver was also cited to appear in court and released.

 

On Tuesday morning, officers located a subject wanted on a misdemeanor warrant for driving with a suspended license. The subject was arrested and booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail.

Otherwise, Tuesday was a fairly quiet day for the Los Altos Police Department. Just before 8 p.m., officers received a report of an injured possum near N. El Monte and S. Clark avenues. Officers assisted the possum and notified Animal Control, who came to pick up the animal and take it for treatment.

 

On Wednesday around 12:45 p.m., officers responded to a report of suspicious persons in the 1300 block of Holt Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, they located the suspicious subjects and determined they were solicitors. They were admonished and released.

Around 9:45 p.m. that evening, officers were called to the 600 block of Hollingsworth Drive because a water main had broken. Officers called the water company and kept an eye on the situation until repairs were underway.

 

On Thursday morning just before 5:30, officers received a noise complaint for the area near Hollingsworth Drive and El Monte Avenue. The complaining party said the noise sounded like a very loud chainsaw. Officers arrived at the scene and located a subject using a chainsaw for what he or she called "emergency repairs." Officers admonished the party for the early morning noise.

Later that afternoon, during a routine traffic stop at Foothill Expressway and St. Joseph Avenue, officers determined the driver they had stopped had a suspended license. Officers had the driver's car towed and the driver was given a citation.

Los Altos Police also took reports on two cases of credit card fraud Thursday morning. Just after 9 a.m. a resident reported that she had made purchases on the Internet, only to discover afterward that the website was fraudulent. Just after 11 a.m., police were made aware of a resident whose Discover card had been used without his or her permission.

Also on Thursday, Los Altos police located and arrested Keshav Narian, a 48-year-old Los Altos man, on an outstanding felony warrant, for a previous arson. Narian is being held on $25,000 bail. Details of the arson charge were not immediately available. Los Altos Patch will follow up with police detectives on this matter and publish more information as soon as it becomes available.

 

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

 

 


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