200 College Avenue
PALO ALTO — The Palo Alto Police Department is asking to be on the lookout for a man they believe to be responsible for two prowling incidents that occurred last night in the College Terrace neighborhood.
According to the Palo Alto Police Department, “On Sunday, April 2, 2017, at about 8:42 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call of a suspicious person in the 2300 block of Yale Street.” Patrolling officers arrived on the scene. However, the suspect had already fled the scene and was not located.
A woman in her fifties, reported seeing a male suspect at about 8:20 p.m. when she arrived home. The woman said the man approached her and started to make advances towards her as she was unloading items from her car. Fearing for her safety she quickly entered her home and called police.
According to the PAPD, “About twenty minutes later, the victim heard the doorknob on her locked front door being shaken, as if someone were trying to get in from the outside.” Just as the woman walked to the door to see what what was going on she heard the doorbell ring and watched as the same man walked away from her door. He was seen walking southbound on Yale Street.
But that was not the end of the suspect’s behavior. According to PAPD, “At about 11:12 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call of a suspicious person in the 200 block of College Avenue.”
A female victim in her 20s had just returned home when she saw a man standing in the bushes of her side yard, trying to look through closed blinds into the bedroom window. The woman confronted the man and asked him if she could help him, but he ignored her and quickly walked away.
Both victims described the prowler as a clean shaven white male, thought to be in his mid-forties to mid-fifties, standing between 5’9″ and 6′, with short brown hair that may be graying. He was wearing blue jeans and either a short-sleeved blue t-shirt or a red plaid shirt. Neither victim saw or heard a vehicle associated with him.
According to PAPD, “These cases may be connected to another prowling incident that occurred on March 21 at about 10:53 p.m. at a home in the 1100 block of Emerson Street.” The same man was thought to be in the back yard of an elderly woman’s home when she yelled at him and he ran away.
Police encourage the public to promptly report suspicious behavior to our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413, or via 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
