Lamorinda police and the California Highway Patrol mounted an intensive search (11:56 a.m.) for a Honda Odyssey stolen while its delivery driver was making a stop on Meadow Lane in Lafayette Thursday.
The driver last saw the vehicle as a man, described as Hispanic in his mid-30s and wearing a baseball cap, jumped into the running van and drove away as the authorized driver was making a delivery.
Police searched for the vehicle, a 2009 grey Honda Odyssey (Plate No: 6GIN210) and a helicopter was called in to aid in the search. Officers were able to track the van out Highway 24 by using the driver’s cell phone Find Your Phone app and concentrating their search in the area of the Caldecott Tunnel.
The driver’s phone was later found discarded in the tunnel.
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This is easily avoidable. Don’t leave ANY vehicle running, regardless of where you are.
Some cars have onboard computers and other devices which can lose data if they are turned off but we don’t know if this was the case here.
Is it legal to leave a vehicle running unattended on the street? Thaaat’s embarassing.
Don’t know about the legality issue, David… doesn’t seem like it is something the law would cover. We’re TOTALLY guessing this driver may have been identified as a worthy hit (we don’t know what she was delivering) and followed. Driver goes to drop off package, Bad Dude jumps into the van and off he goes with a truck full of… stuff.
Did they catch him?
We don’t believe so, Sabrina. Apparently he made it through the Caldecott…
What was in the truck?
We’re not sure of the nature of the cargo being delivered, Dan.
Find it?
Morning, Matthew… we don’t believe so. We understand they found a cell phone in the car at the time of the theft jettisoned in the Caldecott so the assumption is the guy made it to the Oakland/Berkeley side…