Palo Alto DA: No jail for octogenarian's teen moment [hit and run]

[Scott Mace]

No jail for octogenarian’s teen moment

By Braden Cartwright, Daily Post Staff Writer

Palo Alto Daily Post, November 14, 2025

A retired Stanford doctor who hit a bicyclist on Middlefield Road and then fled the scene will avoid jail time, court records show.

Gary Dahl, 84, of Palo Alto, had the hit-and-run charge reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor and agreed to go on one year of probation in a plea deal signed with Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker on Oct. 15.

Witnesses said Dahl was going about 35 mph and ran a red light at the intersection of Hamilton Avenue. The bicyclist told police that he didn’t see the car coming and only remembered lying on the ground. Using the license plate number, officers found Dahl’s Audi crossover in his driveway on Dana Avenue in the Crescent Park neighborhood. Hair and blood were embedded in the shattered windshield.

Dahl told Officer Khalil Tannous the bicyclist appeared to be OK since he was standing, although he was bleeding from his head. Dahl said he couldn’t do anything for the bicyclist, so he left.

Should have stayed

Dahl acknowledged he should’ve stayed and said he was having a “teenage moment,” according to the police report.

Tannous told Dahl the bicyclist went to Stanford Hospital, and Dahl said the bicyclist will likely need a CT scan.

Dahl was a pediatric oncologist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for over 30 years, taking care of kids with cancer or hematologic disorders. Reached by phone after the crash, Dahl declined to comment.