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Published on 02/08/1999 All articles from this issue

News Briefs

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Wells Fargo robbed again

Los Altos police are looking for a middle-aged, white man who pulled off a late-afternoon robbery last Thursday at the Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Los Altos.

The Feb. 4 incident marks the third time since last October that the bank has been robbed. The amount of cash taken was not disclosed.

Witnesses told police the suspect demanded money and mentioned a weapon, but none was seen. The suspect, witnesses said, then fled through the rear doors of the bank and into the north parking plaza along Fourth Street. Police said witnesses did not see the suspect enter or leave in a vehicle. Police arrived at the scene shortly before 4 p.m.

The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 35-45 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing 170 pounds. He was seen wearing a dark jacket and dark "baseball-like" hat.

Those with any information about the incident are encouraged to call the Los Altos Police Department at 948-8223.

MV man killed by police

Mountain View police are continuing to investigate a domestic violence incident last week that left a man dead at the hands of police when the man refused to drop his weapon.

The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office identified the dead man as Brian T. Lucas. Lucas was killed Feb. 3, after being shot three times by a police officer. Lucas was at the Tyrella Avenue residence of an apparent former girlfriend.

A subsequent check showed a previous 1997 domestic violence call to the same residence, resulting in Lucas' arrest on battery charges. Lucas served a month in jail for the offense.

Police said the woman had a restraining order against Lucas to keep him away from her. The 32-year-old man also appeared to be intoxicated, police said.

Lucas had flashed a weapon that turned out to be BB or pellet handgun, but was similar in appearance to a semiautomatic handgun, said public information officer Jim Bennett.

A two-officer unit responded to the Tyrella home after 7 p.m., and found a woman running from the house, followed by Lucas. Police said one of the officers fired after Lucas pointed his gun at the woman and at the officers. Paramedics pronounced Lucas dead at the scene.

LAH election deep pockets

Toni Casey and Steve Finn made their way onto the Los Altos Hills town council with huge campaign budgets way above the norm, based on figures in their campaign disclosure statements.

The statements, disclosing campaign contributions and expenditures for the period Oct. 23-Dec. 31, 1998, showed Casey receiving $29,332.45 in contributions, and making expenditures of $11,321.39. Finn received $28,246.04 and reported expenditures of $10,975.

The Casey and Finn figures represent a mingling of funds based on their joint campaign. Finn's campaign donated $8,711.06 to the Casey campaign fund, and received approximately $7,000 from Casey's fund. Both Finn and Casey's reports list in-kind contributions for mailings made by the same 12 local families, valued at $900 per mailing.

By contrast, candidate Jim Steiner, who finished third in the voting, reported contributions of $8,197.40 and expenditures of $7,765.07. Dorothea Schreiner, who finished last, reported $7,867.51 in contributions and $7,404.51 in expenditures.

- Town Crier Staff Reports