Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested a man on the morning of Feb. 15 for threatening a grocery store security guard and slashing tires at a nearby daycare while parents were dropping off their children.
Officers located Joseph Quick Bear Alvarado, 28, walking near the Sunnyvale Community Center. They say when they tried to stop him, he became uncooperative and “took a fighting stance.” Though officers tried to de-escalate the encounter, they ultimately had to use a CEW (Taser) to take him into custody. Alvarado was medically cleared before he was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on several charges including resisting an officer, “simple assault” and felony vandalism.
DPS started looking for Alvarado after the department received a call from a security guard assigned to the Safeway shopping center at 150 E. El Camino Real. The security guard tried to stop a man who had been caught stealing alcohol from the Safeway store.
“The suspect had asked the security guard if he was armed with a firearm while removing a knife from a sheath on his belt. The suspect walked towards the security guard while making slashing motions. The security guard, who was armed, could not draw his firearm in time. When the suspect got closer to the security guard, the suspect turned away and fled,” read Sunnyvale DPS press release.
Sunnyvale DPS officers were searching for the man when the department received a 9-1-1 call from a childcare center near the intersection of Remington and Sunnyvale-Saratoga. They said a man was in their parking lot slashing the tires of several parked cars. The man matched the description of the person officers were looking for.
The cars belonged to parents who were dropping their children off at the childcare center. The center went into lockdown and everyone sheltered in place until officers arrived.
Sunnyvale DPS says four vehicles were damaged.
If you have any additional information about this incident, either at the Safeway store or at the childcare center, please call Sunnyvale DPS at (408) 730-7110.