Suspect arrested after carjacking of parked motorhome in Palo Alto
A man suspected of carjacking a motorhome in Palo Alto last week was arrested after police officers found it being driven in East Palo Alto on Wednesday.
Palo Alto Police said the motorhome was stolen at around 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 20 on the 400 block of Matadero Ave. just north of El Camino Real. The elderly victim told officers he had been asleep in his vehicle parked immediately in front of his motorhome when the noise of the engine starting on his motorhome woke him up.
The victim found an unknown man in the driver's seat of his motorhome and there was a brief struggle between the two before the victim fell from the driver's side step of the motorhome as it drove away, police said. Investigators said it appeared the suspect got into the motorhome through an open window and found a set of keys inside.
The victim was slightly injured but declined medical attention.
On Wednesday just before 11:00 a.m., East Palo Alto police officers spotted the stolen motorhome driving near the Ravenswood Shopping Center. Officers stopped the motorhome a couple of blocks east of the shopping center at Wilks Street at Gates Street and detained the male driver and a female passenger without incident, police said.
The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Omar Alexis Romero Perez of East Palo Alto. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose for carjacking and elder abuse.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
