Three suspected package thieves were arrested by police in San Mateo on Wednesday after allegedly leading cops on a vehicle pursuit and being caught with multiple packages in their backseat, the department said.
Just after 4 a.m., a traffic stop was initiated on East Hillsdale Boulevard near the freeway on-ramp for a suspended registration. According to police, the officer approached the car and allegedly saw a several packages in the back seat, one of which was being concealed by the back passenger.
The officer began questioning the driver and his two passengers as additional officers arrived at the scene. At some point, the car’s driver — Henry Bytof, 47 — allegedly made a move to reach for the gearshift, so police put a vehicle disabling device under one of the tires. Bytof allegedly put the car in drive and sped off anyway.
A short vehicle pursuit was initiated, and the vehicle came to a stop in the area of Old County Road and Ralston Ave in Belmont, according to police. The three occupants of the vehicle allegedly fled on foot and were all detained.
After a look at the packages in the car, police said that they belonged to multiple residences in the San Mateo area and that the vehicle had been taken without permission.
The other two occupants in the car are identified as Brian Salonga, 49, and Joshua Taylor, 36. During a search of each, multiple drug paraphernalia items were allegedly found.
All three men were arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary, being in possession of a stolen vehicle, conspiracy to commit a crime, obstructing police, and being in possession of stolen property.
Bytof was also booked on suspicion of vehicle theft, fleeing police with wanton disregard for safety and violating his parole. Salonga and Taylor are also facing possible charges of allegedly being in possession of drug paraphernalia and Salonga had a bench warrant.
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