Cops Go All Out in Chase for Stolen Droid Phone

This was a Droid they were looking for.

Cell phones get stolen all the time, but how many of those crimes get a full on police chase with a helicopter?

Interestingly, one such chase happened in Palo Alto, CA. During the week, a man rode up to another man and asked to borrow his phone. The phone owner handed over his Motorola Droid phone and the thief sped off on his bicycle. It turns out that the bicycle was probably stolen too.

A responding police officer spotted the thief and chased him on foot until he was lost in a condominium complex. A Santa Clara County sheriff's helicopter was called upon to aid in finding the thief, but sadly the suspect eluded the authorities.

While it is unusual for that much police attention to be devoted to a stolen gadget, police say that they dedicate all available resources at any given time to public safety.

"Whenever we see there's a threat to public safety, we're going to dedicate any resources we have to apprehend that person," Palo Alto police Agent Max Nielepko said. "The threat to public safety would be an unknown person jumping through citizens' backyards.

"I think the helicopter is what threw more attention to this."

_{Source: Mercury News.}