An off-duty security guard and his alleged accomplice were arrested early Tuesday morning after they were caught stealing 49 laptops from Facebook's former corporate offices in Palo Alto, police said.
Palo Alto police received a call at 1:31 a.m. from a private security guard at the building at 1050 Page Mill Road. The security guard told police that two masked men dressed all in black were inside the building and removing property, police said.
Upon seeing the security guard, both suspects fled with stolen items. Facebook contracts with the security company to patrol the property, although the building is not regularly occupied, according to police. The on-duty security guard gave police a description of the
suspect vehicle, and a Palo Alto police sergeant spotted the car traveling
south on El Camino Real. Another vehicle was following it, police said.
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Officers stopped the two vehicles after they turned left onto Page
Mill Road near Ash Street at 1:37 a.m., police said. They found 49 stolen laptops in the second vehicle, all of which belonged to Facebook. The driver of that car briefly resisted arrest before being taken into custody, police said.
Officers also located a stolen license plate and burglary tools inside the first vehicle, police said. The off-duty security guard, Brandon Simon, 20, and his alleged accomplice, Travis Calhoun, 21, both of Sunnyvale, were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy.
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Police also arrested Simon for embezzlement and resisting arrest, and Calhoun was also arrested for possession of burglary tools and driving with a suspended license. The police investigation revealed that Simon had patrolled the Facebook offices at 1050 Page Mill Road and had knowledge of what property remained inside the building.
The investigation also revealed that the security company had reported a broken window near an exterior door early Sunday morning. Palo Alto police officers were called, but no property was reported stolen. The two suspects had entered the building at the same point of entry, police
said.
Although Facebook is now headquartered in Menlo Park, anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Palo Alto police at (650) 329-2413 or anonymously send a text or voicemail to (650) 383-8984 or anonymously email paloalto@tipnow.org.
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