Police arrested a man on Friday afternoon after he broke into an occupied home and was scared off when he discovered a resident inside. Police do not believe this case or suspect is connected to the recent “dinnertime burglary” crime trend.
On Friday, November 11, 2022, at about 1:32 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a resident in the 400 block of Fernando Avenue reporting a residential burglary in progress. The victim, a woman in her eighties, heard a banging noise on the first floor and went to investigate. She saw an unknown man walking up the stairs to the second floor. She screamed, and the man ran away. The victim immediately called the police, who responded to the area to search for the suspect.
Police determined the suspect had forced entry into the home by breaking a glass panel on a rear door. The victim reported the suspect had rummaged through parts of the first floor of her home and had stolen a small portable vacuum cleaner. Officers later found parts to that vacuum scattered outside the home.
At about 3:18 p.m., an officer spotted the suspect on the east side of El Camino Real near Fernando Avenue. The suspect immediately ran across El Camino Real and disappeared onto the property of the Creekside Inn at 3400 El Camino Real. As officers converged on the area, staff at the inn directed police to the suspect on a fifth-floor balcony. Officers took him into custody without incident and recovered a vacuum attachment that had been stolen from the victim’s home in his possession.
Police booked 23-year-old Jaime Gonzalez Martinez of Santa Clara into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for residential burglary (a felony). Martinez also had two outstanding misdemeanor warrants for battery and domestic violence out of Santa Clara, and police booked him on those warrants as well. His booking photo is available at www.cityofpaloalto.org/PAPDnews.
Police do not have any evidence at this time connecting this suspect to the recent “dinnertime burglary” crime trend about which we released information on November 6. There have been no additional “dinnertime burglaries” reported in Palo Alto since that news release was distributed.
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 [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
