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Uploaded: Saturday, October 6, 2012, 2:17 PM
Updated: Monday, October 8, 2012, 8:16 AM
Police release sketch of suspected residential burglar
Man seen speeding away from home on Arrowhead Way
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Photo
 | Palo Alto police have released a color sketch of a man wanted in connection with the burglary of a home in the 1000 block of Arrowhead Way Thursday, Oct. 4, Sgt. Kara Apple stated in a press release.
Apple said a resident "got a clear view" of the burglar as he fled the area at approximately 9 a.m. The resident said she had left her house at 8:30 a.m. "to run a quick errand." She returned home about 20 minutes later to find that it had been burglarized, Apple stated.
After returning home the resident stayed in her car in the driveway for a few minutes, according to Apple. She heard a car door slam and noticed a man get into the driver's seat of a black four-door BMW sedan that was parked nearby. The resident made eye contact with the man before getting out of her car, at which point he sped away, police stated.
The resident then noticed her front door was unlocked even though she remembered locking it when she left, according to Apple. Upon entering her home the woman realized some of her belongings had been moved and that a tablet computer and a video-game console had been stolen.
Responding police officers checked the residence and found that the burglar had "entered a side yard gate, removed a screen and climbed into the home through an open bathroom window," Apple stated.
The suspected burglar was described as a white male, approximately 20 to 35 years old, with a fair complexion and a medium build. He had short blonde hair, no facial hair and no earrings, according to the resident. He was last seen driving southbound on Aztec Way from Arrowhead.
Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or by text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.— Tyler Hanley Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Wondering?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 6, 2012 at 2:47 pm This is not the first residential burglarly where the resident went out for just a few minutes, only to have his/her home be targeted for entry. This seems like more than a coincidence. It's a shame that we've heard nothing from the police about why the people they have arrested have chosen the homes that they did.
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Posted by Phil, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 6, 2012 at 4:27 pm I would imagine that burglars target what they would consider to be a soft target, meaning a house they could probably enter without force, with open side gates in order to access the rear yards, and possibly densely landscaped to further conceal their activity. Burglars also target homes at a time when they believe no one is home. For the most part they want to avoid any confrontation and do not want to be seen by the resident, neighbors, or passersby. Their goal is to blend in as best they can, and get in and out as soon as possible. That's why they often knock on doors to see if anyone is home, and if someone does answer the door, they can pose as a solicitor, a gardener looking for work, etc.
Burglars commonly will case the homes they have targeted, and will actually wait down the street or nearby and wait for the resident to leave the house. Most burglaries take place in the matter of a few minutes, so the perpetrators are fairly confident that they can get in and out before the resident returns. Another reason why we all need to be aware of suspicious people in our beighborhoods.
The PAPD has made significant outreach in the past few months following the spike in house burglaries. They sponsored the "Lock or Lose It" campaign to increase awareness of the problem, and to educate residents on what steps they could take to reduce the chance of becoming a victim. The PAPD has also followed up on that outreach with public meetings, community forums, and crime prevention information on their website. In fact, all of the information I just shared I learned from attending the meetings, reading the public information, and just using a little common sense. The PAPD has done a great job in my opinion of sharing crime prevention information, trends, and how we as the public can actively become part of the solution in reducing crime.
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Posted by Bailey, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 6, 2012 at 6:39 pm [Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Oct 6, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Hmmm is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online He looks like a grown version of the spooky, big-eyed twins I used to babysit in Crescent Park. Given how distinctive looking he is in the pic, hopefully he's that way in person and people will remember him.
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Posted by Katie, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 6, 2012 at 10:26 pm [Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
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Posted by Anon, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Oct 6, 2012 at 10:53 pm I'm guessing he must have been surprised when he made eye contact with the resident. "ahh, you're home!!" It looks like a slightly more subdued version of the the guy in Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream".
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Posted by Wondering?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 7, 2012 at 8:23 am > The PAPD has done a great job in my opinion of sharing crime
> prevention information, trends, and how we as the public can
> actively become part of the solution in reducing crime
Are you joking? The PAPD has done little more than wave a mostly white flag—and watched from the sidelines as Palo Alto has seen itself become a target for home robberies.
Lock-It-Or-Lose-It is nothing but jingoism. An apartment building was robbed earlier this year—by having the doors of several apartments removed. "Locking it" didn't do much in this case.
Certainly leaving valuables in unlocked cars is stupid—but does it take a police campaign to remind people that an unlocked car is a not “safe place” for your laptop?
The police have NOT provided residents about information about:
1) recovered property, 2) gang/crew affiliation of those arrested to date, 3) disposition of cases involving residential burglaries, 4) level of cooperation with police in surrounding communities, 5) documentation of burglary incidences in surrounding cities, 6) recommendation of surveillance equipment.
Additionally, the PAPD has NOT:
7) made use of surveillance cameras, 8) made use of predictive analytics, 9) engaged outside security services to increase a police presence on the streets.
The list goes on, but this is enough to make the point that the PAPD is NOT doing as much as is possible.
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Posted by profiler, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Oct 7, 2012 at 11:06 am The PAPD has a witness and a sketch of the perp. Now is the time to start sweeping through the usual hangouts of people that look like this. Round up anyone that resembles the sketch and keep them locked up until fingerprints or DNA prove their innocence. Playing hardball with the crooks will work as long as the liberals don't stand in the way of hard core police tactics. Yes, there will be some collateral damage in the war on crime, but we all want safer streets, right? Safety does require some sacrifices.
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Posted by joinpa, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Oct 8, 2012 at 11:28 am Really everyone, here's the same theme that the police have been saying for years. Don't leave unlocked doors and windows open for burglars! It is an open invitation and people watch daily habits of people. It's like leaving your keys in the car and then blaming the police for not preventing the crime.
If we want stats from neighboring communities, etc. Ask the police or ask during an open community forum on crime prevention.
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Posted by noneya, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Oct 8, 2012 at 3:29 pm wondering? None of this will help any residents report info, notice suspicious poeple and report them, etc and I do not need to know any of this. It may be nice for curiosity sake, but nothing more. Based on the amount of burglaries in our town, I am convinced the police could provide all the info you don't need to hear about, such as the stuff you cited, but we (as a town in general) would still be oblivious. Oh yeah, where's this money come from to hire outside services, surveillance, etc? We cut the budget the PD budget last year by 2 million. We reap what we sow.
1) recovered property, 2) gang/crew affiliation of those arrested to date, 3) disposition of cases involving residential burglaries, 4) level of cooperation with police in surrounding communities, 5) documentation of burglary incidences in surrounding cities, 6) recommendation of surveillance equipment.
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Posted by Sue, a resident of Menlo Park, on Oct 8, 2012 at 4:12 pm A burglar who drives a "black 4-door BMW," yet! I cannot understand why people who have plenty of money need to rob other people's homes! What is this, a hobby?
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Posted by the_punnisher, a resident of Mountain View, on Oct 8, 2012 at 7:30 pm
the_punnisher is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online That photo looks like one of the many burglars last expression when they try to steal from one of the property owners in Colorado.
That was their LAST FATAL mistake in a life of crime, as that is what happens when EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED OPEN CARRY AND TO HAVE A LOADED FIREARM OR WEAPON TO DEFEND THEIR PROPERTY!!!
A repeat offender quickly becomes a DEAD offender in CO. my recommendation: The PAPD won't do the job ( they don't have to! ), so it would be best to issue CCW permits and allow open carry on the streets of Palo Alto....
Or just shut up about the burglary issue.....like the usual bleats of sheeple mean anything....
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Posted by Cedric de La Beaujardiere, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Oct 9, 2012 at 12:59 am
Cedric de La Beaujardiere is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online great. so we can counter the theft of replaceable items with irreplaceable killing. Right now if one interrupts a burglary in progress, the thief will probably run away. But if they start getting shot at, how long before the thieves carry guns of their own? Then the resident coming home to a burglary in progress gets shot instead of startled. poor solution. Let us not commit ourselves to an upward spiral of violence.
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Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Oct 9, 2012 at 10:15 am To purchase those "replaceable items" I worked irreplaceable hours.
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Posted by profiler, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Oct 10, 2012 at 10:37 am Sounds like the same suspect strikes again: Web Link
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Posted by David Pepperdine, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 10, 2013 at 11:19 am @Wondering?
Regarding "documentation of burglary incidences in surrounding cities", see www dot crimreports dot com . That gives you all the data you need.
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