Police/Fire

In the first two weeks of the year, the Los Altos Police Department recorded 11 total reports of auto burglary, residential burglary and auto theft.

Police are still in the early stages of investigation into many of the crimes, so “any reportable known correlations would be minimal,” according to Sgt. Brian Jeffrey of the traffic division. However, residential burglaries at four homes may be related, due to similar time frames (the afternoon of Jan. 9 to the morning of Jan. 10) and the similarity in targeted items (jewelry). Those crimes took place on the 100 block of North El Monte Avenue, the 800 block of Los Altos Avenue, the 700 block of Sunshine Drive and the 900 block of Linda Vista Way.

Despite the specter of increased growth and resulting traffic, the number of pedestrian fatalities in Mountain View and Los Altos is far below the national average, and a far cry from sobering statistics in San Jose that have made recent headlines.

According to data compiled by the city of Mountain View, approximately 4.4 deaths per 100,000 people are attributed to traffic collisions. Los Altos ranks even lower, with 2.5 deaths per 100,000. The national average is 11.6 per 100,000.

Courtesy of the Santa Clara County Fire Department

Firefighters convene near the 400 block of Van Buren Street in Los Altos, site of a late-night fire Sunday.

Three Los Altos residents are displaced following a structure fire that damaged part of their home late Sunday (Jan. 20) evening. No one was injured in the blaze. 

A Mountain View man faces a litany of charges after firing a gun inside a downtown apartment building Monday (Jan. 14). No one was injured during the incident.

Bautista

Fernando Bautista, 34, is charged with shooting at an inhabited dwelling, assault with a firearm, child endangerment, battery and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He was booked him into the Santa Clara County Jail’s Elmwood Barracks with a $190,000 bail.

A call to 911 led Mountain View Police Department officers to a home in the 100 block of Calderon Avenue at approximately 10:20 p.m. Monday, according to a department press release. Witnesses told them Bautista fired a handgun inside the apartment during an argument and then drove off. Upon crashing his white Ford truck near the intersection of Pioneer Way and Dana Street, Bautista returned to the apartment, where officers arrested him. They recovered his discarded weapon alongside a creek adjacent to the apartment complex.

Bautista’s wife and child were in the home at the time of the gunshots, according to the press release.

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Mountain View Police Department officers have arrested a third person in connection to a human trafficking operation they unraveled last month.

Courtesy of Mountain View Police Department

The Mountain View mailbox theft suspects. Clockwise from top left: Sabrina Abad, Brianna Jensen, Melissa Henry, Andrew Perez, Amanda Pappas and Brenden Mackay.

Mountain View residents who lost bills, credit cards, personal documents and even identities to mail thieves may soon be reunited with their property and peace of mind following the recent arrest of several Santa Clara County residents.