Police continue investigating attempted break-in at SLAC
Police continue to investigate a man arrested Sunday night on multiple charges for an attempted break-in at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park.
Around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, police were dispatched to the property following reports of a suspicious person with bolt cutters. The suspect, 46-year-old Ronald D. Simpson fled on foot towards Interstate 280 but was taken into custody, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a national lab operated by Stanford.
According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, deputies created a perimeter and located Simpson “hiding in the heavy shrubbery and [was] taken into custody.” They also found numerous burglary tools and a damaged security fence where Simpson was initially located.
Simpson was booked into the Maguire Correctional Facility on charges of attempted burglary, vandalism, possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest. He also faces another two outstanding theft related warrants.
Stanford students were not informed of the attempted break-in via AlertSU.
“The incident happened at a non-occupied facility at SLAC, which is separate from the Stanford campus, during our winter closure period,” Aaron Groff, a SLAC media relations lead, wrote in an email to The Daily.
Work at the laboratory was not impacted by the attempted break-in and there were very few people on the SLAC campus at the time of the incident, according to Groff. There is a 24/7 security presence on-site and few people are on the SLAC campus.
“SLAC is grateful for the effective security measures taken Sunday night to stop this attempted theft,” Grodd wrote.
The Daily has reached out to the University for comment.
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