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A young burglar who entered a Palo Alto home was shocked to open a bedroom door and find a resident sitting at his home-office desk Thursday afternoon.

Police said the surprised would-be burglar bolted out of the house in the 300 block of Middlefield Road, as the resident called police, about 5:45 p.m.

Police set up a perimeter of the area and an officer spotted a young man who matched the detailed description of the burglar. When stopped, the suspect admitted to the burglary attempt, Detective Brian Philip told the Weekly today.

The suspect was identified as Jeremy Scano, 18, of East Palo Alto.

Philip said he was wearing a backpack that contained a laptop computer and an iPod, which turned out to have been stolen from a house on Palm Avenue in Palo Alto — including the backpack.

Philip said no car was in the driveway and a newspaper had been left out, so it appeared that the house was empty.

The case is under investigation to see if there are connections to any other burglaries in the area, Philip said.

But it does not appear at present that this case is related to a Saturday morning burglary on Hamilton Avenue in which the thieves drove off in the family minivan after taking a large television and other items while the parents and two teenage children slept upstairs.

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30 Comments

  1. “Stupid kid.”

    Perhaps; perhaps not. FB — the popular social network — shows someone with an identical name and location as a 2010 graduate of a local high school.

  2. As the parent of a recently graduated 18 year old, I can assure you all that even though the law says that 18 year olds are adults and legally responsible for their actions, 18 year olds are still kids. They may not be minors, but they still have a “kid” mentality. They do not grow up magically overnight on their 18th birthday.

    The brain is not fully developed until mid twenties, particularly with rational thinking. They do know the difference between right and wrong, but they don’t understand the difference. Look back at your own views when you were 18.

    On top of this, if they are not being well parented – particularly for males to have a strong father figure influence, then they are still immature.

    This young man is in serious trouble, as he should be. There are no excuses for his behavior. However, if this had been a 30 year old instead of an 18 year old we would look at it very differently.

  3. Stupid, or impulsive, either way an 18 yr. old knows right from wrong and stealing is just plain wrong.
    A hard lesson for this young man, but hopefully he will think next time before he acts.

  4. He’s from EPA. WTG, VTP. No TKE, ATO or PES for him. He should be MIA for awhile. CUL8R, Jeremy. UR OETKB (Old Enough to Know Better).

  5. Just because someone is in a high school network on facebook, does not mean that he was able to maintain high enough grades to graduate and did not switch schools.

  6. If he is already a criminal at 18, I suggest looking deeper in to the household he grew up in, as the rotten apple doesn’t fall that far from the rotten tree.

  7. Eighteen-year old adults know the difference between right and wrong. It’s great to have compassion, but there are those who are far more deserving of it than this person.

  8. If this kid was alone, he knew just what he was doing, when it’s more than one its possibly some,… peer pressure involved. ——————————-“I was a kid once also.

  9. pot has nothing to do with it. if a suspect had a chocolate bar ,you coulld say ”suspect had beer weapons pot and hershey bar”. how do you know excess caffeine spurs crime. why do police reports never mention a suspect had bags of coffee, why mention pot like it caused a ”crime”. mention what else suspect was carrying. cold medicine ,very dangerous. why demonize pot. some pot users may be ”criminals” but how you know it isnt the ”yuban” caffeine that made them criminals. ?

  10. Yeah, this poor kid is pretty confused. On his FB page he lists as his employer “the streets” and his college “mob”. Let’s hope some of the law enforcement professionals in the area can help he get started on the right foot again. There are truly some amazing officers in Palo Alto, and they care about young people.

  11. uh… u, I think Zelda was being sarcastic… and makes an good point, burglarizing houses is not the same as experimenting with sex or pot… this kid knew what he was doing, there is no mistaking burglary by even an immature teen brain.

  12. The defendant in this case lists the following information on Facebook, nearly advertising his lifestyle. It’s a sad case but as an 18 year old who could easily try this again, a rubber stamp and release from custody doesn’t resolve the community problem of daytime thieves in Palo Alto. What, if anything, did this young man learn at Paly??

    Favorite Quotations: F*** YOU PAY ME
    Work and Education: Employers The Streets
    College: mob
    High School: Palo Alto High ’10

  13. As a former friend and classmate of Jeremy’s I am really disappointed to see this. While I am not at all surprised, I still find it very sad. I have known him since 6th grade and the person who commented previously about the rotten apple/rotten tree analogy is correct. While he may not have come from the affluent and educationally outstanding Palo Alto, he still attended school with us for about 12 years. The wonderful teachers did what they could, but I feel like his peers could have been a better influence on him. I wish I had been a more encouraging friend to Jeremy because things could have turned out differently. Basically all I’m trying to say is that if you meet a friend who is so obviously “at risk” at such a young age try to help them out instead of looking down on them or dismissing bad behavior.

  14. Thanks, PalyGrad 10- You really had some kind and insightful things to say! You sound like a very wise young person. I wish there were more like you! Get out there and make the world a better place!

  15. I’m not surprised at all from what I remember from Jeremy – he’s your typical ghetto bully who probably did all types of drugs and stole things.

    another one bites the dust.

  16. this fool had his chance, he was in comatose for ages and when he regained conscious he just went back to his ways of stealing and killing

    No remorse for this guy, thinks hes top notch stealing labtops but then he just gets owned

  17. ^ At this comment above, you are just a typical Palo Alto ‘Fruitcake’ that believes that the only way you can succeed in life is by going to College paid by your parents. He might be a ‘ghetto bully’, but you don’t understand that bullying is often rooted from personal/family problems. I do know, that he didn’t do ‘All Types’ of drugs, and in fact he has had a lot of problems in his life, that your goody too shoes ass has never experienced. I found Jeremy to be a good guy,who always had good things to say about me, and was always very inviting. It sucks, that he made bad decisions… But People need to quit making assumptions and stigmatizing an individual that has not had the same benefits as you have had growing up.

    Quoted by – a Palo Alto Parent “…amazing officers in Palo Alto, and they care about young people.” That is just what meets the public eye, that in fact is not the case, and you would never be able to say that from experience, so why don’t you stop talking on what you obviously don’t know.

  18. As a close friend of Jeremy’s for the two or three years he was at Paly with us, I find this very sad. The person above really hit the nail on the head with what he had to say. Jeremy was not a bad guy at all. He just never outgrew the stupid things you do as a kid and had to pay the price for his mistakes. Comments like the one about the drugs piss me off, because in fact I knew Jeremy back when he would refuse to give into peer pressure and smoke because his older brother made him promise not to. Do any of you know that Jeremy was in the hospital a little over a year ago for a stroke and aneurisms for which he probably should have died. I bet not. And all the ignorant stupid things you people have to say just go to show that. And finally just as the person above me said, you should probably look into the PAPD a little closer before making remarks about how much “they care about young people”. I suggest you read the article posted in the daily about a month ago called You Have the Right To Know, which tells you what all city employees make. City police officers dont give a shit about the kids here. All they want to do is collect their highly overpaid salaries to congregate at the El Camino Starbucks and bust high school parties.

  19. Paly Grad, people and circumstances are unique and complicated. Undoubtedly your friend had positive attributes, and I agree, society shouldn’t entirely give up on an 18 year old kid. At the same time, may I suggest that you display the same balance and understanding of the police department that you encourage others to extend to your friend. You suggest that they don’t care about young people, are overpaid, and spend all their time at Starbucks.

    If you attended the citizen’s police academy you would know that the challenges police face, and the activity they handle, extends far beyond what you suggest. As for outreach to young people, the police are involved in the schools as mentors and provide a school resource officer. They have been involved in the community as coaches. The PAPD offers a scholarship to low-income students named in honor of one of their officers who was killed in the line of duty. They have held a gift drive for many years providing Christmas gifts to sick children at Stanford Hospital. These examples are just a few.

    As for the PAPD pay, did you know that our officers are actually paid in the bottom half of the other police departments that are used as comparison by both the city and police department to negotiate contracts. And may I remind you that unlike our fire department, the police voted last year to fore-go their negotiated pay raise in order to help the city balance the budget. Based on the facts, I wouldn’t say they are overpaid, especially considering the nature of work in which they have to deal with. I respect what they do. Most of us in society would be unwilling, or not possess the qualities one needs to succeed as a police officer.

    I understand your frustration with the uninformed opinions about your friend. It’s admirable that you stick up for him. At the same time, I discourage your from transferring your frustration to the police, schools, or anyone else. Your criticism is equally uninformed, and quite frankly, you lose credibility when you take it in that direction. Fact is your friend created this situation, no one else. He needs to be held responsible, be accountable for his actions, and let’s hope that the justice rendered is fair.

  20. If left free to roam the house he was in, wonder what he would have taken…????
    I have mentioned a few times before in the past that classes should be given to Freshmen regarding the consequences of their actions. It would no longer be a sock in the jaw from a school mate for any trouble..it would be possibly looking down the barrel of a gun from an outraged citizen. Plus the fact of being caught and going to jail~ being in with other VERY HARDENED CRIMINALS who would love to see you…and poison your mind with stories~ You should have the youngsters enlightned with the fact of CONSEQUENCES…to be aware of the LAW~ that would turn a few heads around to listen to a teacher who may help. Does not do any good to tell them what is going to happen to them AFTER the fact. Yes, they will have to fess up to the time and consequences but saving a student, just one, is enough to be thankful for.
    Let’s not have our police involved, it is a problem that should be handled with educated learned professionals that work with children in the schools. This kid was skipped over, ignored and I assume not motivated for any future schooling or forseeable progressive lifestyle of making money legally.

    How can that happen in this town???

    Students AND teachers need to be aware that just smiling and taking just a little time to interact with others may just make a HUGE difference in someone’s life who is having a rough time of life…………..

  21. I have time understanding or coming to terms with this “thug” phenomenon. I graduated from Gunn back in ’92 and I feel as if I went to school in a different country altogether. By the time my sibblings made it to Gunn and Paly four years later, both schools had become a zest pool of kids pretending to be thugs, acting all tough, being outspoken about doing drugs and being sexually active, etc. When I contrast my high school days with my siblings’, and when I read stories about young impressionable kids like Jeremy, I realize how sheltered I was and how lucky I was not to have to deal with the environment in which kids grow up today.

    It seems to me this kid is a good kid who lacks direction, and who needs to learn a lesson from all of this. I hope the justice system doesn’t condemn him to hard time in state prison with hardened criminals who’ll corrupt him for life. He definitely needs to be held accountable for what he’s done – but all in good measure. We don’t want this kid and others like him to become worse or career criminals on account of our dysfunctional penitentiary system.

  22. This kid needs a second chance, You will need it, too at some point in your life. He has a medical condition. I challenge you to investigate before writing anything against him. Did you know he underwent a neurosurgical intervention to save his life. He was lifting weights before falling to the ground unconcious due to a ruptured aneurysm. He has an organic problem. He needs treatment. Help him. Organic problems in the brain may alter behavior. He needs therapy. I do not justify the robbery at all. I want him to be evaluated by a Psychiatrist and a Neurosurgeon as soon as possible.
    Jail will not alleviate his medical problem. He is a good kid, I have known him for many years now. A few months ago he was just 17 year-old.

  23. knowing jeremy im sad to hear it happened. he was inteligent and good person just lead down the wrong the path.
    FREEE MY BOI SWAG
    MOB
    DRUGS
    ALCAHOL
    HHOES
    BITCHES
    KREWKS
    BITCHES
    WEED
    MOB
    4LYFE

  24. Jeremy is finally out AND READY TO BE A BETTER PERSON, IM SURE HE LEFT HIS PAST BEHIND AND STARTED NEW, FOR A FACT IT MIGHT HAVE TAKEN A WHILE FOR HIM TO REALIZE WHO HE HURT AND SCARED BUT THINGS ARE GOOD FOR HIM NOW, AND HOPEFULLY THEY WILL STAY LIKE THAT BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE HE CAN DO IT. 09′

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