A burglar who posed as a construction worker and tried to enter a guest house in Midtown on Monday morning left empty handed after a woman who was sleeping in the house woke up and scared him away, police said.
Palo Alto police received a call at about 9:30 a.m. from a woman in her 40s reporting that a prowler had entered the backyard of a home on the 3200 block of Maddux Drive about 45 minutes earlier, police said. Officers responded but could not find the man.
Police said the woman was sleeping inside the guest house, which is located in the backyard, when a man opened the unlocked sliding glass door to the residence and poked his head inside. When the woman asked who was there, the man said he was a concrete worker looking for employment. The woman yelled, and the man left the residence, police said.
Investigators said the man gained entry to the backyard through an unlocked side-yard gate. He is described as a clean-shaven Pacific Islander male, approximately 55 to 65 years old, with medium-length grey hair. No suspect sketch is available, police said.
Police said there were no other reported burglaries in the neighborhood on Monday. While there were some reported overnight thefts from unlocked vehicles in the area last week, officers do not believe this case is related to those crimes.
Residents are encouraged by the police to promptly report suspicious activity by calling 911 and to always close and lock doors, windows and side-yard gates.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the police department's dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text or voice mail to 650-383-8984.
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