Full Notification

Police arrested a man yesterday after he shoplifted merchandise from a department store, physically resisted loss prevention personnel when they went to stop him, and then attempted to rob an elderly man of his cell phone as he tried to get away.  No one was physically injured.
 
On Monday, August 8, 2022, at about 3:19 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a loss prevention officer reporting a shoplift in progress at Macy’s at Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real.  As officers were responding, the loss prevention officer reported that the suspect had physically resisted them and had just attempted to steal a cell phone from someone in the mall as he was fleeing.  Officers arrived on scene and detained the suspect at the mall without incident.
 
The investigation revealed that loss prevention personnel had observed the suspect shoplifting approximately $350 of merchandise.  When he left without paying, they went to stop him and place him under private person’s arrest.  The suspect physically resisted, shoving two loss prevention officers (one man and one woman, both in their twenties) away from him as he left.  They followed him through the mall at a safe distance, continuing to report on his location to the public safety dispatcher, and watched as the suspect attempted to snatch a cell phone out the hand of a man in his eighties who was sitting on a bench.  The man was able to retain possession of his phone and shoved the suspect’s hand away.  None of the three victims reported any physical injuries.  Loss prevention personnel and police recovered the stolen property (clothing items and perfume) from the suspect’s possession.
 
Police booked 49-year-old Bryan Michael Flint of Santa Cruz into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for robbery and elder abuse (both felonies).  The suspect also had six outstanding warrants from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office for various felony and misdemeanor violations (to include identity theft, forgery, possession of stolen property, misappropriation of lost property, vandalism, and possession of drug paraphernalia) for which he was also booked.  The suspect’s booking photo is available at www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAPDnews.
 
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 [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.