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A resident in the Ruby Hill gated community in Pleasanton chased down a man who was stealing his car and the two briefly fought before the thief escaped the area early Saturday morning, according to police.
The yet-unidentified man was also in possession of stolen mail and is suspected of committing another similar car theft, according to Pleasanton police Sgt. Chris Niederhaus.
Police released surveillance video depicting the culprit as part of the investigation to identify and locate the man.
The incident in Ruby Hill unfolded around 5:45 a.m. Saturday when a man living on Via Di Salerno was roused by the sound of his vehicle being started in front of his house, according to Niederhaus.
The resident went outside and saw his vehicle being backed out of the driveway, so he got in another car to pursue the stolen car northbound on East Ruby Hill Drive. As both vehicles approached the main Ruby Hill gate off Vineyard Avenue, the stolen vehicle went off the road and struck a pole before coming to rest, according to Niederhaus.
“The victim and suspect engaged in a brief, physical altercation and the suspect ultimately fled,” the sergeant said.
Pleasanton police officers responded to the scene, and with help from a Livermore police K-9 unit and an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office drone team, conducted an extensive search of the area, according to Niederhaus.
The car thief was not located after an hour-long search.
Back at the scene of the crash, police found several pieces of evidence, including mail stolen from five Ruby Hill residents, according to Niederhaus. Investigators also learned of another vehicle burglary that night before, and they suspect the same man was the culprit.
Police described their suspect as a white man, 20-30 years old, weighing about 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hoodie.
Niederhaus said investigators are actively following up on several leads. Anyone with information about the case can call Pleasanton PD at 931-5100.
Surveillance video related to the case can be found on the Pleasanton Police Department’s Facebook page.
When will people learn to not leave keys and valuables in a car. Probably would eliminate the thefts. Just saying. He probably lives in ruby hills someone’s kid what a great community we have and how did the would be thief dupe so many officers k9 and a drone. Sorry but you guys still need training or something that’s just sad.
Kind of strange that this happened in a gated community. Thought that the whole idea behind gated communities was to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But then I remembered reading about a police chief responding to someone asking him why crimes occur even in gated communities. His response was that the only way to stop these sorts of crimes from occurring is to remove all the male teenagers and young adult males from the gated community.
really, is that all you guys can muster is posting insensitive nonsense? You mean you have time for that? no better use of it? makes you sound ignorant.
@Pleasestop
Don’t think that there is anything nonsensical about the speculations here. As the article notes, there was also another vehicle burglary on the previous night in this gated community. Now either someone is repeatedly taking the extra time and effort to break into and out of a gated community to commit petty car burglary and mail theft, or the person responsible for the car burglary, mail theft, and attempted car theft lives in the Ruby Hill community.
Not the most sophisticated or smartest criminal. My guess is that the PPD will make good progress on their investigation.
Most gated communities are not gated for pedestrians or bicycles. This suspect used a bike, according to one video.
White punks on dope.
Sounds pretty much like an “inside job”. The police couldn’t find him because he probably ran home.
Pleasestop is doing the same thing, so I guess you are ignorant too.
Should have shot him