Teen Breaks Into Home to Ask Sleeping Residents to Use Their WiFi

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PALO ALTO, Ca. – A 17-year-old boy, desperate for internet access after running out of data was arrested as a result of related crimes authorities said.

On Sunday, July 22, 2018, a couple in their 60’s was sleeping in their bed when they were awakened by the teen suspect who was in the bedroom of their home in the 700 block of East Charleston Road in Palo Alto. The teen spoke to the couple and asked them to connect to their WiFi. The male victim got out of his bed and pushed the suspect down the hallway and out of the front door of his home. He then called 911 to report the incident. The victims described the suspect as wearing something covering his face. Officers arrived shortly after and detained the teen approximately a block away wearing a black t-shirt wrapped around the back of his neck. Authorities believe that the suspect used the shirt, which was under a sweatshirt that he was wearing to conceal his face during the burglary.

Through further investigation, the officers determined that the suspect climbed into the home through an open side yard window after cutting the screen. The unarmed suspect lied about his name when asked by officers. The teen was arrested for felony Residential Burglary, misdemeanor Prowling, and misdemeanor Providing False Information to An Officer. The teen was transported to Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.

Later on Sunday, July 22, 2018, in the afternoon dispatch received a call reporting a bicycle theft that occurred on Saturday, July 21, 2018, at around 11:45 p.m. in the 3800 block of Middlefield Road. The resident told authorities that a woman in her 20;s who lived at the home noticed the suspect standing outside her bedroom window in the side yard. He motioned that he wanted to speak with her. The woman told an adult male resident, who was in his late teens, and the two walked outside to the side yard to speak with the suspect. The suspect asked to use their WiFi because he was out of data. The resident told the suspect he had to leave and he left the home on a bicycle.

In the morning, the male resident noticed that his bicycle that was in the backyard was missing. “The residents reviewed their surveillance video and saw the suspect stealing the bike from the backyard and moving it to the front of the home prior to returning to the side yard and making contact with the female resident,” Palo Alto Police officials said in the news release. Officers did an area check and located the stolen bicycle near the location where the suspect was detained. The report was forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for petty theft charges for the bicycle theft.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 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 our free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.