BY KAREN VELIE

A Cal Coast Times reader informed San Luis Obispo Police on Sunday that the person caught on a security camera prowling outside a home on Friday in SLO was Stephen Maier, of Arroyo Grande.

Shortly before 4 a.m., a man walks up to the front door of a home on San Luis Drive and uses the light on his cell phone to look around. He then appears to spot a security camera and quickly leaves.

Officers took two reports of thefts from unlocked cars in the vicinity of the prowler on Friday. Police say a camera was stolen from one car; clothing, sunglasses and two chargers were taken from the other car.

The suspect appears to be in his twenties, wearing a backpack and a T-shirt with what looks to be a panda on it.

Jeff Specht of San Luis Obispo called police on Sunday and reported that Maier was at the Sands Inn & Suites on Monterey Street. Officers arrived and interviewed Maier, who denied being the person in the video.

However, during a search of Maier’s car on Sunday, officers found a T-shirt with a panda on the front that appears to match the shirt the suspect is wearing in the video. Nevertheless, the officers did not arrest Maier, though they did cite Maier for possession of paraphernalia.