3 Juveniles Arrested In Palo Alto Burglary
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- Palo Alto police have arrested three juveniles in a residential burglary Monday night in which a woman came home to find her place ransacked, a stranger inside and a suspect waiting in a getaway car.
At 7:43 p.m. Monday, the woman, a resident in the 3100 block of Stockton Place, called police to report a stranger in her home talking to someone, the interior of her home ransacked and a person sitting outside in a car, according to police Sgt. Brian Philip.
The woman, who is in her 50s, took down the license number of the car, which drove off a short time later, police said.
At 7:50 p.m., a responding officer stopped a green 1997 Honda Civic in the 3100 block of Maddux Avenue, detained the driver and passenger and discovered a replica assault rifle in the trunk along with a ski mask and knit cap.
Police, who believe the driver was working with two other juvenile suspects in the burglary on Stockton, arrested the driver, a 15-year-old male from East Palo Alto, on suspicion of felony residential burglary and released him to the custody of his parents.
After investigating, officers learned that the two alleged burglars had not stolen anything but had stuffed property items from the home into cloth bags, placed them near the front door and then ran off when the resident returned home.
Palo Alto police searched nearby neighborhoods Monday evening with a canine unit and with the help of a second canine unit from the Los Altos Police Department and a police helicopter manned by the San Jose Police Department, but the other two juveniles were not found.
On Tuesday at about 2:45 p.m., police officers from Palo Alto, joined by officers from East Palo Alto and Menlo Park police, converged on a home in the 110 block of Carlton Avenue in Menlo Park.
One of the suspects was captured inside the home, but the other attempted to flee out the rear door, leaving behind a loaded handgun.
Two detectives stationed in the back of the house immediately arrested the second suspect.
The suspects are 16 years old, one from Menlo Park and other from East Palo Alto, and both are already serving juvenile probation on a burglary conviction, according to police.
Police arrested the youth from Menlo Park on suspicion of felony burglary and the East Palo Alto juvenile for felony burglary, felon in possession of a firearm and resisting arrest.
Both were booked into San Mateo County Juvenile Hall. Police are investigating whether any of the three juveniles may be connected to other burglaries in Palo Alto or nearby communities.
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