Police Arrest Juvenile for Burglary of Occupied Residence
Published on July 07, 2022
Palo Alto, CA – Police arrested a juvenile female who was under the influence of narcotics after she walked through an open rear door of a residence and awakened a sleeping resident. The suspect fled on foot and police arrested her a short distance away.
On Saturday, July 2, 2022, at about 9:27 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a resident reporting that an unknown suspect had just entered her home in the 100 block of Ferne Avenue. The resident, a woman in her sixties, locked herself in a room for her safety and said that the suspect had fled in an unknown direction. Officers responded immediately, located the suspect a half-block away on the sidewalk, and detained her without incident.
The investigation revealed that the suspect had entered a sliding rear door of the home that the resident had left slightly ajar for a pet. The victim woke up as the suspect came into the room. The victim said the suspect was laughing as the victim yelled at her to get out of her house. The suspect never said anything to the victim. The suspect did not steal anything from the home, but police later developed information that the suspect had entered with the intent to commit theft. The victim was not physically injured.
Police determined the suspect was under the influence of narcotics and alcohol. She was also in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. Due to her level of intoxication, police requested that the Palo Alto Fire Department respond to the scene to evaluate her. Paramedics opted to transport her to a local hospital for treatment.
The suspect provided false information to the police about her identity. Officers were ultimately able to identify her as a 15-year-old who had run away from her home in Carmichael in Sacramento County a few days before. Her parents thought she had been staying in the south bay, but they had been unable to locate her.
Police issued the suspect a citation for residential burglary (a felony) and three misdemeanors: possession of narcotics, being under the influence of narcotics, and providing false information to police. Officers released her at the hospital to a parent. In accordance with our standard release of information procedures, no additional information on the suspect is available since she is under the age of 18. We do not release booking photographs of juveniles in such situations.
Police do not have any indication that this suspect is responsible for any other crimes in Palo Alto.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.