Police find missing patrol car
by Casey Weiss
Mountain View Voice Staff
Mountain View police found a patrol car on Sunday that was stolen from a Shoreline Amphitheatre concert on Friday night.
Residents of an apartment building at 950 High School Way had seen the car in their complex's parking lot and called police on Sunday afternoon after seeing news reports about the missing vehicle. Police say the vehicle, numbered 3006, was unharmed and it appeared that no one had tampered with the shotgun inside the car, which was loaded with bean bags.
So far police have no suspects and will be searching the car for evidence that could lead to his identity.
The vehicle was taken after a Mountain View police officer responded to a call for assistance during the Jane's Addiction/Nine Inch Nails concert on Friday at 11:15 p.m., and left the keys in the ignition, police say. An amphitheatre employee said he thought he saw a teenage male driving the car up and down Shoreline Boulevard, but was not sure, according to police spokesperson Liz Wylie.
"We have never had this happen before -- at least that we can remember," Wylie said.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Mountain View Police at 650-903-6344. Police are accepting anonymous calls.
http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=1550
Car 3006, where were you? In a parking garage after a joy ride!
By Joe Rodriguez and Sharon Noguchi
Mercury News
Posted: 05/24/2009 01:39:01 PM PDT
Updated: 05/24/2009 06:41:22 PM PDT
Car 3006, where were you?
When somebody stole the Mountain View police car at a concert Friday night at Shoreline Amphitheatre, the brass called in a helicopter and had officers scour the streets looking for the black-and-white cruiser with a shotgun inside.
Nothing.
Then they asked neighboring police departments to look out for the cruiser and sent up the 'copter again Saturday afternoon.
"A cop car stands out from a helicopter,"officer Liz Wylie said during the search. "It has a white roof."
Again, nada.
On Sunday morning, Wylie took an educated guess as to where Car 3006 could be found.
"Probably in a garage. Whoever took it is probably asking himself, 'Heck, now what?'"
She was right.
A few hours later, at approximately 1:35 p.m., a resident of an apartment complex on High School Way spotted Car 3006 parked in the garage and called police. Officers found it unlocked and undamaged, but the keys were gone — and so was the car thief.
And the shotgun? Still there, locked in place. In police lingo, it was a "less-lethal" gun that fires beanbags, not shotgun pellets.
Wylie said police will look for evidence that they hope will lead them to the culprit.
The unusual drama began during a concert by the groups Nine Inch Nails and Janes Addiction.
Police believe a teenager or young adult stole the cruiser after its driver, an unnamed officer, inadvertently left the keys in the car when he went to assist another officer. He returned minutes later at 11:15 p.m. and found the black-and-white car missing.
Soon after, a Shoreline concert employee reported seeing a police cruiser "showboating" on Shoreline Boulevard. The driver gunned the engine and was speeding.
Police set up checkpoints on streets near the amphitheater. They called in the San Jose Police Department's helicopter. Initially, they hoped the Ford Crown Victoria cruiser would be spotted quickly.
Although police believe the patrol car was stolen for a misguided joy ride, they were worried that the thief could have driven recklessly through traffic with the flashing lights on. Worse, Car 3006 could have fallen later into really wrong hands.
"This is post-911 America,"Wylie said before it turned up. "We have to be concerned about someone using it to impersonate an officer."
And no, the cruiser wasn't equipped with a GPS device that would have divulged its location.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12442483? ... st_emailed
Sorry to keep bringing this up.
I'd much rather be posting some show reviews but...
at this point no one has been caught stealing.