Palo Alto Police Arrest Felony Vandalism Suspect Who Threatened to Shoot Officers
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- Police in Palo Alto on Monday confirmed the recent arrest of a felony vandalism suspect who threatened to shoot officers during a pursuit and standoff, according to authorities.
The incident happened last Friday afternoon, according to a release issued by police. The suspect wound up not being armed.
Officers received a call from security personnel at the Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real at about 1:46 p.m. Friday reporting a man who was causing a disturbance by yelling at mall patrons, threatening passersby, and spitting on store windows.
Arriving officers contacted the man, who was uncooperative but claimed he was waiting for a ride-share vehicle so he could leave. Shopping center security told police that if the suspect did not leave the property, they wanted to place him under citizen's arrest for disrupting business.
Police said the suspect proceeded to run away into the parking lot. Officers followed from a distance and observed the suspect smashing the rear windows of two unoccupied vehicles in the parking lot with a metal water bottle.
Now pursuing the suspect for the felony vandalism he had committed, officers chased him to an outdoor area of the nearby Stanford Park Hotel at 100 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. During the pursuit, the suspect placed his hand into his jacket pocket, claimed he had a gun, and threatened multiple times to shoot and kill the officers.
The suspect climbed up to a second-floor balcony while officers took cover and began an attempt to de-escalate the situation by speaking with the suspect and trying to negotiate a compliant arrest with a member of the Palo Alto Police Department's Crisis Negotiation Team.
The suspect continued to refuse officer commands, leading them to deploy less lethal munitions. They first tried firing pepperball rounds at the wall near him to see if the pepper spray would encourage him to leave the balcony. When that didn't work, officers fired a less-lethal projectile weapon at him, striking him in the hip area.
The suspect then surrendered to officers, who found he did not have any weapons in his possession. The suspect, identified by police as 32-year-old Campbell resident Reece Logan Hauf, was was transported to an area hospital for medical clearance prior to booking, which is standard procedure for suspects exposed to chemical agents and/or struck with a less-lethal projectile.
The suspect had sustained a visible injury to his hip area but was otherwise unhurt. No officers were injured. Police booked Hauf into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for two counts of felony vandalism, misdemeanor obstructing a business establishment, and misdemeanor resisting arrest.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 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.