Burglary suspect in custody Burglary suspect in custody (December 17, 2004)

Local man charged with four break-ins

By Jon Wiener

Mountain View police arrested a suspect on Friday in a string of burglaries along the Mountain View-Los Altos border.

Marco Nava, a 30-year-old busboy from Mountain View who also went by the name of Marco Carrizales, was arraigned Tuesday on four counts of felony burglary and one count each of attempted burglary, misdemeanor battery, and annoying and molesting a minor. Bail was set at $500,000.

Mountain View Police Chief Scott Vermeer said that officers encountered Nava while responding to a call of a suspicious person on the 1200 block of Awalt Drive on the night of Nov. 10. Vermeer said Nava could not explain why he was in the neighborhood at 11:00 p.m. or why he was knocking on the door of a house with a young woman inside.

Nava was identified by police as a "person of interest" because he fit the description of the suspect in earlier break-ins on Aug. 28 and Oct. 30. He also gave a DNA sample that matched evidence left at the crime scenes.

In the first incident, which took place on Ernestine Lane, a burglar placed his hand over the mouth of an 11-year-old girl to stifle her screams. In the other, a 16-year-old Los Altos girl awoke in her Clark Avenue home to find a man crouched on top of her.

The similarities in the two cases, particularly the description by the victims and the close proximity of the two homes, immediately prompted the Mountain View and Los Altos police departments to conduct a joint investigation, with Los Altos detective Cameron Shearer working full-time in Mountain View.

Investigators said Nava's own admissions under questioning also tie him to two unreported burglaries on Alicia Way and Almond Avenue in Los Altos. In each incident, there was a girl or a young woman in the homes. Nava took cash, but never more than $100, from some of the houses.

Police stressed that residents should continue to take precautions to protect against burglaries, such as locking their doors and creating family emergency plans.

"There is a message out there that because we live in such safe communities, people don't lock their doors, and it leaves them vulnerable to crimes," said Vermeer.

Of 11 burglaries in Mountain View during November, a burglar entered without force eight times, according to police spokesperson Jim Bennett.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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