Five arrested in connection with retail theft and hit-and-run crash

PALO ALTO >> Four people were arrested on suspicion of organized retail theft Friday after they allegedly shoplifted from a clothing store and got into a hit-andrun crash while they were fleeing.

On April 22 at about 2:07 p.m., Palo Alto police responded to a report of clothing theft at Lululemon, 432 University Ave. The robbers reportedly fled in a BMW X5 sport utility vehicle, according to a police news release. Officers got another call a minute later about a hit-and-run collision at Homer Avenue and Cowper Street involving a similar vehicle.

Three women and one man entered the store, grabbed several items and fled to a getaway vehicle without paying, according to authorities. Lululemon staff got a description of the vehicle and the license plate.

As they were southbound on Cowper Street, the driver ran a stop sign at the intersection with Homer Avenue, hitting a driver in a 2010 Toyota pickup truck going west, police said. The driver of the BMW didn't stop. There were no injuries from the crash.

About half an hour later, police said, they spotted a silver 2005 BMW X5 eastbound on the San Mateo Hayward Bridge. They stopped the car in the 27000 block of Industrial Avenue in Hayward and arrested the five people at about 2:43 p.m. Police recovered about 54 items, valued at about $5,800, from the car.

Four of the five people were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail; the fifth was released without being charged.

The four were booked on felony organized retail theft. One was also booked for misdemeanor hit-andrun and two outstanding felony warrants: grand theft and fraudulent possession of personal identifying information from the Glendale Police Department and organized retail theft and possession of stolen property from the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department. Another was booked on an outstanding felony warrant for grand theft out of the San Jose Police Department.