Palo Alto police have arrested a teenager who they said climbed through a window into an occupied home on East Charleston Road early Sunday morning and woke up the residents by asking them if he can use their Wi-Fi network.
Police said they believe the 17-year-old Palo Alto boy is also responsible for a bicycle theft that occurred shortly before the burglary -- an incident in which the suspect also aroused suspicion by asking wary strangers for Wi-Fi access.
According to a police news release issued Wednesday, the teenager entered a home in the 700 block of East Charleston Road at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday. The home was occupied by a man and a woman, both in their 60s, who were asleep when the teenager entered the room and began talking to them. Police said he was wearing a cover of some sort over this face.
The man then got out of bed, confronted the teen and pushed him down the hallway and out the home's front door before calling the police, the news release stated.
Police said no one was hurt in the incident and the only items that were missing, according to the couple, were two kitchen knives, which have not been recovered.
They had better luck with the bicycle, which was reportedly stolen overnight from the backyard of a home in the 3800 block of Middlefield Road, though police didn't learn about the theft until Sunday afternoon. The investigation showed that at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, a woman in her 20s noticed the teenager standing outside her bedroom window, in the side yard, motioning that he wanted to talk to her. Police said the woman and another resident, a male in his late teens, confronted the teenager, who told them he was out of data and wanted to use their Wi-Fi network.
The two residents reportedly asked the teenager to leave and watched him ride away on a bicycle. The following morning, the male resident noticed that his bicycle was missing from the backyard. They reviewed home surveillance video and saw the teenager steal the bicycle and move it to the front of the residence before returning to the side yard and talking to the female resident, police said.
Officers found the stolen bicycle near the location where they arrested the teenager and returned it to the resident from whom it was stolen, police said.
The teenager was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary, prowling and providing false information to an officer for initially lying about his identity, police said. After finding the bicycle, officers have also recommended that the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office add a charge of misdemeanor petty theft.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the police's free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.
Comments
Registered user
Downtown North
on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Registered user
on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:37 pm
If only they had set up a guest wifi network, perhaps this kid would not have had to break in...
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:39 pm
on Jul 25, 2018 at 4:39 pm
It’s hardly about asking for wi-fi access. It’s breaking and entering and terrorizing occupants of a home in the middle of the night. This isn’t a childish prank - he had a masked face - I don’t care if it turned out to be a teen, as stated as if that makes it all ok, it’s a seriously criminal teen.
I support increased police enforcement in the city of Palo Alto.
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm
on Jul 25, 2018 at 5:57 pm
Some teens nowadays are insane! They are fearless and shameless committing crimes. Do their parents care when they are not home at midnight?
East Palo Alto
on Jul 25, 2018 at 5:59 pm
on Jul 25, 2018 at 5:59 pm
This kid is the perfect poster child for the Nancy Reagen era.
Barron Park
on Jul 25, 2018 at 6:42 pm
on Jul 25, 2018 at 6:42 pm
I suspect that the Wi-Fi inquiry was just a poor excuse for having gotten caught casing the house.
Obviously indicative of a low IQ.
Crescent Park
on Jul 25, 2018 at 7:47 pm
on Jul 25, 2018 at 7:47 pm
The guy recently in the news who picked a fight with a gentleman and his girlfriend about his right to park in a Handycap Zone and then shot the man was as good as a murderer in my opinion - that is not stand your ground, that is George Zimmerman territory .. but this burglar miscreant, if I had someone coming into my window at night I'd knock them over the head or worse and talk to them later if they were able.
We've had fake pizza and food delivery people walking into houses locally and pretending to mistakes that almost got clocked. This is not funny, and a lame excuse like that ought to be an aggravating factor at his sentencing to make it a year or two worse.
Adobe-Meadow
on Jul 26, 2018 at 5:12 am
on Jul 26, 2018 at 5:12 am
Sounds like the kid has some issues coming to a head. It's a common age for these things to become more evident. Hope he can get some help.
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 26, 2018 at 6:26 am
on Jul 26, 2018 at 6:26 am
This sounds like the product of mental illness rather than a hardened criminal. Hopefully the kid can get the help he needs, one way or another.
Charleston Meadows
on Jul 26, 2018 at 7:25 am
on Jul 26, 2018 at 7:25 am
Another possibility...maybe he used up all of his data time on his iPhone & was in dire need of some online access/information?
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 26, 2018 at 10:47 am
on Jul 26, 2018 at 10:47 am
In the old days he would have asked for some Grey Poupon.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 26, 2018 at 11:05 am
on Jul 26, 2018 at 11:05 am
The obvious question to me is: Was the kid on drugs? That would explain a lot and put a different spin on these events.
Professorville
on Jul 26, 2018 at 2:40 pm
on Jul 26, 2018 at 2:40 pm
Watch for this with late night comedians
Charleston Meadows
on Jul 28, 2018 at 2:56 pm
on Jul 28, 2018 at 2:56 pm
To the "Don't do drugs" commentator, you are clearly bad at math. 17 years ago was 2001. Reagan, that's ReagAn, not Reagen, has been out of office since 1989, or in simpler terms 12 years. His drug policy and his wife's "Don't do drugs" mantra have long been scrapped by admitted potheads Clinton and Bush, to say nothing of the admitted local pot dealer of Puanahou HS himself, Obama. It's obvious you are the one on drugs if you can't even do basic math.
East Palo Alto
on Jul 28, 2018 at 4:32 pm
on Jul 28, 2018 at 4:32 pm
@ obvious
Wow! So I misspelled Reagan . But the real issue at hand, is the kid that broke into the homes. If he was not on drugs, we really have problems.
P.S. Not in any of the above posts does it mention time frames. Check your facts,and your dosages.
Palo Alto Hills
on Jul 28, 2018 at 5:48 pm
on Jul 28, 2018 at 5:48 pm
There is absolutely no scientific correlation between using drugs and actively seeking Wi-Fi accessibility.
East Palo Alto
on Jul 28, 2018 at 6:03 pm
on Jul 28, 2018 at 6:03 pm
@ Trying to avoid extinction
I thought humor was all but extinct in Palo Alto.
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 28, 2018 at 11:05 pm
on Jul 28, 2018 at 11:05 pm
Chances are he could have easily accessed their Wi-Fi from outside.
Maybe he woke them up because he needed the password?