Otto Emil Koloto, 22, of Gilroy, was arrested on suspicion of
killing Phil Lacy, 27, in Palo Alto.
Otto Emil Koloto, 22, of Gilroy, was arrested on suspicion of killing Phil Lacy, 27, in Palo Alto.
Koloto was found hiding out in a South San Jose condominium owned by “the friend of a friend,” Palo Alto Police Agent Dan Ryan said. Police surrounded the house and arrested Koloto without incident last week.
“It was quick and peaceful, a textbook arrest,” Ryan said.
Koloto has been booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges of murder and robbery, Ryan said.
At 2 a.m. July 13, Lacy was standing by a car waiting for friends in Palo Alto near the town’s city hall parking garage after a night of bar hopping, Ryan said. He was robbed and shot once in the head, police said. He died several days later at Stanford Hospital.
Police have yet to determine how or why the robbery turned into a deadly shooting.
“That’s the $54,000 question,” Ryan said. “The robbery was complete. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Another man was arrested in July in connection with the homicide. Donald Robert Lee, Jr. was present on the night of the murder. He and Koloto are being held in police custody.
