Police Investigate Duo of Interrupted Residential Burglaries
Published on November 11, 2025
Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating two burglaries of occupied homes and one of an unoccupied home that occurred Monday night. The suspects are unknown and at large.
On Monday, November 10, 2025, at about 9:26 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting a burglary that had just occurred at a residence on the 3900 block of Nelson Driver. The resident, a woman in her thirties, heard a gate open and saw two masked subjects entering the side yard with flashlights. The subjects smashed the rear glass door to the main residence. Officers from the Palo Alto Police Department arrived and saw two subjects entering a dark-colored vehicle. Officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop on the suspect vehicle, but it fled at a high rate of speed. It is unknown at this time if the suspects stole anything from the residence.
At 9:34 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting a burglary that had just occurred at a residence on the 400 block of El Capitan Place. The resident, a male in his forties, returned home and found that his house had been ransacked. The victim reported hearing a noise in his house and his child saw a person crawling on the ground. The victim left the house with his family and called the Palo Alto Police. Officers responded immediately and set a perimeter of the area. A helicopter from the San Jose Police Department and a K9 from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office responded to the area to assist with the search. The suspect was not located. The investigation revealed that the suspect made entry to the residence by smashing the rear glass door to the residence. It is unknown at this time if the suspects stole anything from the residence.
Officers also responded to a burglary that was reported at 10:15 p.m., that occurred on the 1000 block of Cardinal Way. The resident was not home when the burglary occurred. The suspect(s) made entry to the residence by smashing the rear slider window of the residence. The victim reported that several items of jewelry had been stolen. Detectives are actively investigating these incidents.
Most residential burglars commit their crimes during the day, when homes are more likely to be unoccupied and the chance of a confrontation with a resident are correspondingly reduced. If you have a side yard gate, police recommend putting a lock on it to prevent easy unauthorized access to your property. Police also recommend securing all windows and doors overnight. If you choose to hide a key outside your residence in the event you ever get locked out, recognize that involves a potential risk; as an alternative, consider leaving a spare house key with a trusted neighbor. For more crime prevention tips to help you stay safe, visit our Crime Prevention Tips page.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984, or submitted using the “TipNow-Palo Alto” app, which is available via the App Store or Google Play.