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Uploaded: Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 4:33 PM
Updated: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 10:47 AM
Serial burglar strikes again
Police believe more thefts committed by single suspect, a white man in his 50s
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by Casey Weiss
Mountain View Voice Staff
Photo
 | Mountain View police believe two more crimes can be attributed to a serial burglar described as a white man in his 50s, bringing his total number of suspected burglaries to 20.
Three more burglaries occurred in the city over the past week, and one of them is believed to be the work of this particular thief, said police spokesperson Liz Wylie. Police also believe another burglary from earlier this year was part of the spree, which has targeted Mountain View residences over the past six months.
Wylie said there is no way of knowing for certain which of the crimes are connected. However, all of these burglaries "occur in broad daylight when no one is home. The suspect enters through an open window and takes small items."
She said the burglaries are occurring throughout the whole city and not in any specific area.
"I want people in the city to realize it could be happening next door," Wylie said. "The crimes are not localized."
Police believe the man first checks to see if someone is home by ringing the doorbell. If no one answers he breaks into the house.
Recently, a resident didn't answer the door, and was home to interrupt the burglar as he broke into the house. The burglar then fled on foot. The resident described him as a white man between 50 and 60 years old, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, with gray hair, a thin build and wearing a gray sweatshirt.
In the past year, Wylie said, Mountain View has had an average of nine burglaries per month -- higher than usual due to the spree.
There have been similar burglaries at nighttime, when a suspect breaks into a house by removing window screens and also steals small audio devices and laptops. But typically, "Either a suspect will do night or daytime burglaries, not both," Wylie said. She said police are trying to determine if the daytime and nighttime burglaries are related.
"Everyone in the city needs to be diligent about locking windows and doors," she said.
Anyone with information on the burglaries or the suspect is urged to call police at (650) 903-6344. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Justin, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 18, 2008 at 4:13 pm Where have the burglaries taken place?
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Posted by Don Frances, Mountain View Voice Editor, on Sep 19, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Don Frances is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online At this time all we know is that the burglaries occurred in Mountain View. We'll try to pin down which neighborhoods, and will update the story as soon as we find out.
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Posted by princess, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Sep 23, 2008 at 8:21 am I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE THESE BURGLARIES TAKE PLACE BECAUSE I WANT TO SAFE ESPECIALY WHEN YOU ARE ALONE AND YOUR HUSBAND IS AT WORK AND YOUR CHILDREN ARE AT SCHOOL ITS KIND OF GOOD TO LET KNOW WHERE THIS IS HAPPENING SO WE CAN LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER. I GET SCARED WHEN IM BY MYSELF UNTIL MY HUSBAND AND CHILDREN GET HOME PLEASE LET US KNOW WHERE THEY HAPPEN AT.
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Posted by Alan, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Sep 24, 2008 at 8:23 am I feel that 18 burglaries are something the police needs to worry about - but not something everybody should be frightened about. We do have more than 70k people living in Mountain View, thus the chance that the burglar picks a specific house is extremely small.
Nothing to be worry about - no reason to get paranoid.
Just make sure you look your house if you are not there. This has been known to help. Generally Burglar are like bears.. if you make them aware of your presence they will go for easier prey than your belongings.
I am looking forward to an update on this article once the burglar or the two different burglars are caught.
Great article - well done.
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Posted by Don Frances, Mountain View Voice Editor, on Sep 24, 2008 at 9:26 am
Don Frances is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online Yesterday afternoon we spoke with police spokesperson Liz Wylie about this. She said the burglaries are happening throughout the whole city of Mountain View and do not occur in one specific area -- it is not the location that connects the crimes. Liz also said the burglar first checks to see if someone is home by ringing the doorbell. If no one answers he breaks into the house. If someone does answer, he gives them some sort of story and moves on. Residents should call police immediately if someone fitting the description rings their bell and then gives a dubious reason for doing so.
Also, two more burglaries have been connected to this person. We'll update this story sometime later today.
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Posted by Resident, a resident of the Waverly Park neighborhood, on Sep 24, 2008 at 12:42 pm We don't live in an era of unlocked doors and open windows anymore. Even if they catch this guy, there are hundreds more like him out there to take his place.
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Posted by Ned, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 25, 2008 at 1:33 pm The police would do wise to focus less on the activities of Wolf Dog and more on the activities of this criminal.
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Posted by DOG, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 26, 2008 at 12:13 pm I say we sic the wolf dog on the serial burglar after the police catch him.
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Posted by Family Man, a resident of the Jackson Park neighborhood, on Sep 26, 2008 at 3:46 pm What do I do if the man comes to my door and I am home? Do I just let him walk away or can I do a citizens arrest?
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Posted by suspicious, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Sep 28, 2008 at 3:38 pm I am all for DOG's suggestion. By the way, this burglar is making me suspicious of every older guy walking around town. I think they are all up to no good. My apologies fellow citizens, but this is just a clear example of how crimes like this take a toll on a community. It's more than the loss of a few possessions here and there. It attacks peace of mind and trust in one's community.
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