Peninsula Home Burglary Suspect Arrested; Police Still Seek Accomplice

SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA -- Police have tracked down and arrested a residential burglary suspect after a victim returned home to find the man exiting her side yard; however, the suspect's alleged accomplice is still being sought, authorities say.

Just before 5 pm on Sunday, Jan. 29, Palo Alto Police received a call reporting an interrupted residential burglary that had just occurred in the 700 block of East Charleston Road. The victim, a woman in her 50s, reported that the suspect had fled the scene in a waiting getaway car. Officers responded to the area, but the suspect vehicle could not be found.

Police say that the victim had returned home and found that the side yard gate to her home was open. She thought that was odd, and went to investigate. Suddenly, an unknown man came running out from the side yard and ran to a waiting car driven by a second suspect. The vehicle fled eastbound on East Charleston Road, but an alert neighbor happened to observe what happened, jotted down the license plate, and provided that to police. As it turns out, the suspect had not yet had a chance to break into the victim’s home, and so no property was stolen.

Following up on the license plate information, officers located the car, a white 1994 BMW 318i two-door, in the 500 block of Runnymede Street in East Palo Alto, and detained one suspect there without incident, who's believed to be the one who had run from the victim’s side yard.

He was subsequently identified as 19-year-old Roger Penacorona of East Palo Alto, and was out on bail after being arrested in San Carlos on Jan. 11 for another residential burglary.

Police booked the suspect into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for felony attempted residential burglary, committing a felony while being out on bail for another felony, and providing false information to police, a misdemeanor.

Detectives say they're still looking into the identity of the getaway driver, who was only described by the victim and witness as a Hispanic male. Detectives are also investigating any possible connection between these suspects and other residential burglaries that have occurred in Palo Alto or surrounding communities.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Palo Alto Police 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the PAPD's free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

Image via Palo Alto Police