Updated, 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, search called off. Later Tuesday afternoon, the police search dog lost the scent of the burglar at Birchwood and Fernwood in Moraga, Moraga Police Lt. Jeff Price said, and the police search was scaled back.
Multiple police agencies — including a canine unit and a helicopter — were searching the ridges, woods and neighborhoods of Moraga early Tuesday afternoon for a man in a stolen pickup truck who was interrupted shortly after smashing the window of a parked car and stealing a purse.
The man ran north on the regional trail around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday. The theft took place in the parking lot of a regional parks trail on St. Mary's Road, across the road from St. Mary's College, said Lt. Jon King of the East Bay Regional Parks Police.
The suspect was described as a white man, average height, with a mustache and glasses, and black hair that might be a wig or toupee, said King. He was wearing a dark plaid shirt and jeans.
King gave the following description of the incident: A regional parks police sergeant noticed the broken glass in the parking lot. A Moraga officer who was coincidentally in the area noticed the man on foot going north on the regional trail. The officers called in the incident. A regional parks canine search unit and helicopter were brought in. Assisting in the search were Moraga, Orinda and Lafayette police.
The black Toyota Tacoma truck was stolen from Vallejo. Police interviewed the local woman whose car had been parked next to the Tacoma and had lost a purse and suffered a smashed window, King said.
