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Uploaded: Tuesday, November 20, 2012, 9:53 AM
Cleaner arrested following burglaries of Palo Alto homes
Residents on Bryant, Castilleja who share house cleaning team noticed missing items
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 | A house cleaner has been arrested for burglary after three Palo Alto residents who shared the same cleaning team noticed items including jewelry, hidden money and prescription medication were missing from their homes.
Martha Quintero-Ramirez, 36, of Redwood City, was arrested Saturday, Nov. 17, after police contacted her and recovered missing possessions, including a wedding ring and a bracelet, that belonged to two of the victims.
Quintero-Ramirez had worked for one of the residents for two years in team with another house cleaner -- not a suspect -- who had worked for her for 20 years. After an investigation police concluded that the longer-serving house cleaner had had no knowledge of what her cleaning partner allegedly was doing.
Two of the Palo Alto victims are next-door neighbors in the 700 block of Bryant Street. The third lives in the 1500 block of Castilleja Avenue.
Police initially responded Saturday morning to a Bryant Street resident on a report of a residential burglary that had occurred the previous day. The victim told police she and her neighbor both had had their homes cleaned Friday, Nov. 16, by their usual house cleaners.
A short time after the cleaning, the victim noticed things in her closet were slightly out of place. She looked further and discovered six items of jewelry, two bottles of prescription medication and hidden money was missing.
She contacted her neighbor, who also discovered missing items, including a wedding ring and an antique watch. They contacted the third person on Castilleja, who discovered several pieces of jewelry and antique coins missing. The items had gone missing over the past two months, but the resident thought she had simply misplaced them.
Police recovered items from the second and third victims, but did not locate any property stolen from the first victim.
They said Quintero-Ramirez may have been stealing from other homes she has cleaned in Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, San Carlos, San Mateo and Redwood City.
Police encouraged anyone who may have employed Quintero-Ramirez and had property stolen to contact their local police department to report the theft. Detectives from the Palo Alto Police Department will work with other agencies to investigate any additional crimes that may have been committed.
Anyone having information about the Palo Alto cases can contact the police department's 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.— Chris Kenrick Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Resident1, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 10:04 am [Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
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Posted by resident, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 10:15 am The first sentence in this article says the woman was part of a cleaning service. Is the cleaning service a company or just the 2 women?
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Posted by Janie, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 10:17 am Solution! Clean your own homes problem solved.
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Posted by Laura King, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Laura King is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online My cleaners are honest, thorough and do a great job. I am usually not home when they come, and I have never had anything turn up missing. If you need a new house cleaner, she also cleans with her family members. Her name is Anna. She can be reached at 650-799-2663
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Posted by Susan Brodsky, a resident of Menlo Park, on Nov 20, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Susan Brodsky is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online @Janie,
Did it ever occur to you that there are older and/or disabled people who are unable to clean their own homes? Please be thoughtful! Your comment is not helpful and is not a "solution"! Someday you might be in that position yourself where you need a housecleaner!
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Posted by Ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Ducatigirl is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online It happens. I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis of the spine, at age 48. Among the things I can no longer do are vacuuming, scrubbing floors, and scrubbing bathtubs. Personally,I like Merry Maids, and have had the same two ladies for years.
Also, an awful lot of people work very long hours or have more than one job. They are simply to tired or have too little time to clean house. For twety years I worked 70 hrs/week, and it was cutting into my sleep time.
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of East Palo Alto, on Nov 20, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Hmmm is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online Suggesting that people clean their own homes isn't helpful. I've had the luxury of working from home on the days we have housecleaners. How sad to lose a wedding ring to a thief. How sad - & stupid - that a thief will go to jail for stealing. I have neighbors who're janitors & they do extra work for extra $$ - & they work hard. I also feel bad for the victims who haven't gotten their possessions back & the honest housecleaner whose friend used her to gain access to these homes.
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