Crime & Safety

Fugitive Dimitri Storm Possibly in San Mateo County

Car thief Storm was last seen driving a gray 1991 Mercedes 350 near Palo Alto.

By BCN

Fugitive Dimitri Storm, who is suspected of stealing vehicles in at least five Bay Area counties, might have picked up a hitchhiker in San Mateo County Monday, a Monterey County sheriff's commander said.

The hitchhiker, a female transient, was picked up in San Mateo County, Monterey County sheriff's Cmdr. Lisa Nash said citing an alert from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

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Storm, 42, was last seen in Monterey County on April 17.

Nash said the hitchhiker was frightened because the driver had a knife, and he dropped her off at a rest stop.

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San Mateo County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rebecca Rosenblatt said the woman was dropped off at Clouds Rest Vista Point on Skyline Drive in Palo Alto.

A San Mateo County sheriff's deputy was dispatched to the area around 10 p.m., and the hitchhiker identified Storm from a photo as the driver who picked her up, Rosenblatt said.

Rosenblatt said Storm was gone when the deputy arrived, but the car he was driving, a gray 1991 Mercedes 350, was at the rest stop. The Mercedes was reported stolen from Monterey County, Rosenblatt said.

Nash said a vehicle was reported stolen at 4 a.m. today on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto about a mile from the vista point.

Storm is suspected of stealing vehicles in Sonoma, Marin, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties since early April. Authorities said he is known to steal license plates and put them on the stolen vehicles.

He allegedly stole a car in Windsor and threatened Sonoma County sheriff's deputies on April 5. He then fled in the vehicle to Woodacre in Marin County and was not found despite an hours-long search. He is suspected of stealing a vehicle in San Anselmo.

Santa Cruz County sheriff's officials suspect Storm burglarized vehicles in the Ben Lomond area and two homes in the Soquel Hills between March 31 and April 2.

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office believes Storm stole a Jeep Grand Cherokee from the Palo Colorado Canyon area and a Lexus from the Carmel area last week.

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