Man Arrested for Threatening to Shoot Police Officers and Felony Vandalism

Palo Alto police arrested a man on Friday afternoon after he threatened to shoot cops, vandalized property and was accused of obstructing business.

Officers received a call from security personnel at the Stanford Shopping Center at in Palo Alto, California at about 1:46 p.m. Friday. They reported a man who was causing a disturbance by threatening and yelling at mall patrons, while he was spitting on store windows.

When officers arrived, Reece Logan Hauf claimed he was waiting for a ride-share vehicle so he could leave. Shopping center security told police that if Hauf did not leave the property, they wanted to place him under citizen’s arrest for disrupting business.

According to police, Hauf then took off running through the parking lot away from authorities. While officers followed at a safe distance, they observed Hauf smashing the rear windows of two unoccupied vehicles in the parking lot with a metal water bottle.

Now pursuing the suspect for felony vandalism, officers chased him to an outdoor area of the nearby Stanford Park Hotel. During the pursuit, the suspect placed his hand into his jacket pocket, claimed he had a gun, and threatened multiple times to shoot and kill the officers.

Hauf climbed up to a second-floor balcony while officers took cover and began an attempt to de-escalate the situation by trying to negotiate a compliant arrest with a member of the Palo Alto Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team.

The suspect continued to refuse officer commands, leading them to deploy less lethal munitions. They first tried firing pepperball rounds at the wall near him to see if the pepper spray would encourage him to leave the balcony. When that didn’t work, officers fired a less-lethal projectile weapon at him, striking him in the hip area.

The suspect then surrendered to officers, who found he did not have any weapons in his possession. Hauf was transported to an area hospital for medical clearance prior to booking.

The suspect had sustained a visible injury to his hip area but was otherwise unhurt. No officers were injured. Police booked Hauf into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for two counts of felony vandalism, misdemeanor obstructing a business establishment, and misdemeanor resisting arrest.