Calling all precincts: Silicon Valley smartphone snatching sparks multiagency manhunt

Silicon Valley smartphone snatcher prompts manhunt

PALO ALTO, Calif. — California’s Silicon Valley takes its technology seriously.

Palo Alto police enlisted officers from two neighboring cities and a sheriff’s helicopter to hunt down a smartphone snatcher Tuesday evening.

And the suspect still managed to get away on his bike.

Palo Alto Police Agent Max Nielepko maintains the response was standard and appropriate because the thief was a threat to public safety.

Police say a young man asked to borrow a pedestrian’s phone, then took off on his bike with the Droid.

The Palo Alto Daily News reports a responding officer chased the man for several blocks, then called for back-up. Police from Los Altos and Mountain View set up a perimeter while officers went yard to yard, and a Santa Clara County sheriff’s helicopter searched by air.