LOOK: Peninsula Home Burglars Caught On Video; Police Trying to ID Suspects

SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA -- Police in Palo Alto are asking for the public’s help with identifying two residential burglars who were captured on video.

At about 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9, Palo Alto police received a call of an attempted residential burglary that had occurred about fifteen minutes earlier at a residence on Roosevelt Circle. The resident, a man in his 30s, reported that he had received an automated notification on his phone from his home surveillance system that there had been movement detected by the system’s cameras outside his home.

He reviewed the video a short time later and saw that the system had recorded two men who had first knocked on his front door, then walked to the backyard and tried to pull open a sliding glass door. The suspects then left without gaining entry into the home. Officers responded immediately but could not locate the suspects.

About 30 minutes after the first incident, police received a call about a residential burglary had occurred at another home in the same block that morning between 9 a.m. and noon while the residents were out. The victim, a man in his 40s, reported that an unknown suspect had gained entry to his home via an unlocked sliding door at the rear of the residence. The suspect rummaged through drawers and wound up stealing jewelry and other personal property.

Police believe the same suspects are responsible for both incidents. The video evidence from the attempted burglary, which can be seen above, shows that both suspects appear to be Hispanic males in their 20s to 40s. One of them was wearing a distinctive multi-colored “Star Wars” jacket with a hood, black gloves, blue jeans, and red sneakers. The other was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt over a red shirt, dark gray pants, and gray sneakers.

Detectives are investigating the cases and working with partner law enforcement agencies in an attempt to identify both suspects, as well as to determine their involvement with any other residential burglaries in Palo Alto or surrounding communities.

These cases also are examples of a common technique used by residential burglars, where they first knock on the front door to see if anyone is home. If they don't receive an answer and think the house is unoccupied, they'll attempt to enter the backyard -- often via an unlocked side yard gate -- and then attempt to find a way to break in from the privacy of the backyard.

For these reasons, police recommend always speaking to strangers at your door from inside, without opening the door, to let them know someone is home. We also recommend placing padlocks on side yard gates. Police also recommend keeping all doors and windows closed and locked when homes are unoccupied.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's 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 www.bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or www.bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

Image via Shutterstock