Palo Alto Macy's shoplifting suspect jailed after smashing into patrol vehicle while trying to flee
PALO ALTO -- A woman suspected of shoplifting at a Macy's department store in Palo Alto was arrested after smashing into a patrol car while trying to escape, police said Thursday.
The incident happened Tuesday at the Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real. Palo Alto Police said dispatchers received a call at about 10:41 a.m. about a person shoplifting several pairs of sunglasses and fleeing in a 2007 Honda CRV.
An officer spotted the suspect car on the 2800 block of Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park and pulled it over in a nearby business parking lot, where the driver stepped out of the vehicle and spoke to the officer. After a short conversation, she walked away from the officer and got back into the driver's seat, ignoring commands from the officer to stop, police said.
The woman then put the car into reverse and smashed into the passenger-side corner of the patrol car as the officer stood next to it, police said. The car then drove over a curb and took off at a high rate of speed.
The officer spotted the car about a block away in another parking lot on the 2900 block of Sand Hill Road, where it sped past the patrol car in the opposite direction. The vehicle then struck a curb on Sand Hill Road at about 50 miles per hour and rolled over, coming to rest back on its wheels in an embankment, police said.
The suspect emerged from the car and continued to ignore the officer's commands as she stood next to the vehicle. After briefly getting back in the car, she fled on foot and was tackled by the officer after a short chase. According to police, the woman continued to resist arrest and tried to stand up; a passerby in his 30s then assisted the officer and the woman was eventually arrested once other officers arrived as backup, police said.
Inside the suspect vehicle, police found nine pairs of stolen sunglasses with a total value of about $3900, police said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital as a precaution after she complained of neck, back and hand pain from the rollover crash. The original officer suffered an arm injury and was also treated at a local hospital and released.
The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Francesca Marie Maufas of San Francisco. She was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, reckless evading, and grand theft.
Maufas also was booked on three outstanding warrants: grand theft out of San Jose and two misdemeanor thefts out of Marin County and Alameda County.
Police asked anyone with information about the Palo Alto incident to call the department's 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.
