Police arrested a man Sunday night after he briefly entered an occupied home.
On Sunday, November 24, 2024, at about 11:50 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a resident of the 1700 block of Emerson Street reporting that he had just interrupted someone entering his home. Officers responded to the area but did not immediately locate the suspect.
The investigation revealed that at about 11:45 p.m, the resident, a male in his fifties, was in an upstairs bedroom of his home when he heard noises downstairs. When he went downstairs to investigate, the resident found an unfamiliar male subject standing in his kitchen. When confronted by the victim, the suspect claimed to have entered the house mistakenly and fled on foot. Officers reviewed the victim’s security camera footage and determined that the suspect had entered the victim’s home by prying a lock on a patio door adjacent to the kitchen. The victim did not notice anything missing or damaged.
A short time later, officers checking the area located the suspect nearby and detained him without incident.
Police booked 28-year-old Thomas Albert Yencken of Palo Alto into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for prowling, trespassing, and vandalism (all misdemeanors), with a recommendation that the District Attorney’s Office consider a burglary charge. His booking photo may be viewed here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/News-Articles/Police-Department/Police-Arrest-Prowler
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.
To view this release on the City's website, click here:
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/News-Articles/Police-Department/Police-Arrest-Prowler
