Police Investigating Burglary of Occupied Home
Published on October 10, 2021
Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating a burglary of an occupied home that occurred late on Friday evening. The unknown four suspects, who did not appear to know the home was occupied, are at large.
On Friday, October 8, 2021, at about 9:48 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch received a call reporting a residential burglary that had just occurred in the 3500 block of Emma Court. The victim, a woman in her seventies, said the suspects had fled the scene in a vehicle. Officers responded immediately but could not locate the suspects.
The victim reported that she had been home alone and in an upstairs bedroom with the door closed. She heard noises inside her house and opened the bedroom door to ask who was there. She heard someone say, “There’s somebody in there!” and saw three suspects holding flashlights quickly run down the stairs from another upstairs room. They exited the house, and she watched out a window as they got into a parked vehicle and drove away.
The investigation revealed that the suspects had smashed a sliding glass door at the side of the home to gain entry. They rummaged through several rooms; at this point, though, the victim was not certain what, if anything, may have been stolen.
A check of security cameras at homes in the neighborhood showed four suspects getting out of the suspect vehicle, which appeared to be a black 2013 to 2016 Mercedes C-class four-door sedan with no front license plate. After the victim interrupted the burglary, the four suspects can be seen returning to the vehicle and leaving eastbound on Matadero Avenue. The surveillance footage is not of sufficient quality to aid in public identification of the suspects, so police will not be releasing it.
The victim described the three suspects she saw in her home as all being less than six feet tall with medium builds, wearing all dark clothing. The person whom she heard speak did not have any noticeable accent.
Residential burglaries of occupied homes are extremely rare in Palo Alto. Most residential burglars commit their crimes during the day, when homes are more likely to 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 e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.