By Shobha Rao
Sheriff’s deputies find handgun in suspect’s car
Home break-in
Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspected serial burglar in Los Altos Hills Nov. 8 following thefts from a home on Wild Plum Lane and a subsequent chase by civilians and law enforcement.
Michael Yang Wang was spotted by the 26-year-old daughter of the residents of the home approximately 5:15 p.m., as she was checking up on the house during her parents’ absence.
“The witness heard the residence security alarm sounding prior to opening the front door,” said Sgt. John Hirokawa of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. When she saw a man running from the back of the home to the street, “the witness and her boyfriend drove their car back up the driveway and blocked Wild Plum Lane, a dead-end street,” Hirokawa said.
Wang, upon seeing the vehicle, drove the car off the road, around the witnesses’ vehicle, and continued on Miranda Avenue. “The witness obtained the license plate number of the vehicle, a white Toyota Camry, and called 911,” Hirokawa said.
Deputy David Emery, who happened to be responding to the security alarm, according to Hirokawa, heard the vehicle description on his radio and spotted the Camry. After getting sufficient back-up, Emery stopped Wang, 25, who was headed northbound on Highway 280 near Page Mill Road.
Hirokawa said the deputies found a loaded semiautomatic handgun, jewelry, a computer and various other items in Wang’s vehicle.
Investigators have linked Wang with seven other burglaries, including two in Cupertino, four in the Mill Valley area of Marin County and the most recent in Los Altos Hills. Wang is also being charged with weapon charges for carrying a loaded gun in his car, Hirokawa said.
Wang was booked at the Santa Clara County jail on a total of eight counts of burglary and weapon charges, with his bail set at $150,000. Wang is believed to be responsible for numerous other burglaries throughout the Bay Area.
Wang’s picture could not be released because he will be in photo line-ups for other burglary victims.
Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Office at (408) 867-9715.
