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News Digest Juvenile nabbed for robbery in Palo Alto A 15-year-old boy who Palo Alto police believe robbed two younger boys on Edgewood Drive in March was arrested Friday afternoon, April 27. Police believe the boy, an East Palo Alto resident who wasn’t identified because he is a juvenile, was one of three youths who stole a cell phone and an electronic music player from two 13-year-old boys on March 31. The older teenagers allegedly rode up behind the two victims. Two were on BMX-style bikes while the third was on a Razor-style scooter. Police said one of the older boys asked the 13-year-old boys for the time. He then allegedly rode back to the other two teens before returning to the 13-year-old boys and demanding that they give him their stuff. Police said the boy demanding the stuff had his hand in his sweatshirt pocket. The victims reported hearing a sound that they described as a “can of soda opening,” which they thought may have been the sound of a gun cocking. The older boys then fled the scene and were last seen crossing the Newell Street Bridge into East Palo Alto. After an investigation, police located the boy who they believe committed the robbery on El Camino Real, near Oxford Avenue at about 3 p.m. Friday. The boy was arrested for robbery and then released to a parent in accordance with department policy. N —Gennady Sheyner
No charges for teacher who hit girl with car in 2011 An East Palo Alto schoolteacher who accidentally struck and killed a 6-year-old girl in a crosswalk last year will not be charged with a crime, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday, April 30. Fern White-Parker was on her way to teach at Costano Elementary School on Sept. 28 when she struck East Palo Alto girl Sioreli Torres shortly after 8 a.m. Torres, a Green Oaks Academy student, was crossing Bay Road at Gloria Way on her way to school when she was hit, according to police. Her mother and two younger sisters were a few feet behind her in the crosswalk. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office worked with the East Palo Alto Police Department to complete a thorough and detailed investigation of the incident, which included interviews with dozens of witnesses. Wagstaffe called the incident a “tragic case,” but said the evidence did not suggest that White-Parker had committed vehicular manslaughter or broken any other laws. Torres’ family has been informed of the district attorney’s decision, Wagstaffe said. N —Bay City News Service
Man likely injured in botched burglary, police say What initially appeared to be a grisly suicide attempt in Mountain View is more likely the result of a burglary gone terribly wrong, police said. At 11:37 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, police came to the aid of a man bleeding from the wrist on Junction Avenue. Officers found the man lying on the ground, unresponsive and “bleeding profusely from a laceration on his wrist,” according to Liz Wylie, public information officer for the Mountain View Police Department. Medics took the man to a local hospital and placed him on a mental health hold, Wylie said. Meanwhile, officers discovered a trail of blood leading from the spot where the man was found to the nearby La Bamba restaurant, located at 580 N. Rengstorff Ave., about 100 yards to the east. A window of the restaurant had been broken and blood was found inside, Wylie said. Officers also found a screwdriver lying next to a damaged cash register. Wylie said police now believe that the bleeding man <0x2014> who was on probation for a prior burglary <0x2014> cut himself while breaking into La Bamba and attempted to pry open the cash register before giving up and fleeing the restaurant and collapsing, presumably from blood loss. Police have yet to interview the man and cannot release his name until he has been arrested. “We notified the hospital to let us know when the man will be released, so that we can arrest him for burglary and probation violation,” Wylie said. N —Mountain View Voice staff
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