Lafayette police searching for robbery suspect

LAFAYETTE, Calif. (KGO) -- Lafayette police are searching for a man accused of being involved in a series of crimes in the city, including a burglary.

The man ran away after a physical confrontation with officers.

The suspect is described as a white male, 5' 8" tall, weighing 160 pounds and dark brown hair. Police said he was wearing a white and gray checkered shirt, gray pants and white shoes.

Police went door to door Wednesday morning asking Burton Valley neighbors in Lafayette to stay inside their homes. "They said best to stay there, we've got emails from neighbors, we've communicated that way through emails through different people in the neighborhood, plus on the phone," John Otto said.

A helicopter crew and search dogs were brought in to help find the man who was running from police.

It started at 9:36 a.m. when police received a report about a man and a woman sleeping in a car at Lafayette Community Park on St. Marys Road.

Police quickly arrested the woman after discovering there was a warrant for her arrest. "While she was being handcuffed by one officer and placed in the vehicle, the individual pushed himself away from the officer, ran from the officer, the officer and the subject became involved in a struggle and then he ran off into the park," Lafayette Police Chief Eric Christensen said.

At that moment children at a soccer camp in the park were quickly removed and taken to safe place.

Police narrowed their search after a homeowner saw the man in her back yard. "I looked out the window and here was a man running," one woman said. The woman added that she got a good look at him and they were facing each other.

As police searched through the man's car they quickly discovered it was someone they had been looking for. "We're now beginning the process of investigating the individual, investigating the vehicle and since that time period now we're starting to link him to associated crimes here in the city and one of which is a theft from an unoccupied residence that occurred here in town," Christensen said.

Police are still asking neighbors to be vigilant.