Uncle, Nephew Busted For Alleged Burglary Of Vacant Building

PALO ALTO, CA – Police have arrested two men in connection with the burglary Sunday of a vacant commercial building in Palo Alto.

John Matthew Newell, 54, and his nephew James Andrew Newell, 28, were arrested on suspicion of three counts of felony commercial burglary and one count of misdemeanor possession of burglary tools, police said. James Newell was also arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor possession of narcotics paraphernalia.

On Sunday at 8:04 a.m., officers with the Palo Alto Police Department responded to a call of suspicious circumstances at a vacant commercial building in the 3200 block of Hanover Street.

Security personnel told police two suspects had been seen inside the building via surveillance cameras.

Officers arrived to find the two suspects running on the roof of the building, police said. Police located the two men hiding in different areas of the building and took both into custody.

John Newell initially disobeyed commands and was taken into custody with the help of a police dog. He suffered a bite to his arm from the dog, and was treated at the scene by paramedics from the Palo Alto Fire Department. He was then transferred to a local hospital for medical clearance before booking.

During their investigation, officers were able to link the men to two previous burglaries at the building, police said. The same building was burglarized Oct. 14 and Oct. 28 when copper wire was stolen, police said.

When arrested, the suspects' belongings allegedly included burglary tools -- flashlights, gloves, wire cutters and power tools, police said, adding that James Newell was in possession of a pipe used to smoke narcotics.

John Newell has no permanent address, and James Newell is from Burlingame, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

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-Bay City News contributed to this report/Images via Palo Alto PD