Suspect sought after burglary of occupied home in Palo Alto

A man was being sought after the burglary of an occupied home in Palo Alto Tuesday evening, authorities said.

The hot prowl burglary happened on the 3900 block of Laguna Avenue in the city's Barron Park neighborhood. Palo Alto police said dispatchers received a call at about 9 p.m. from a resident of the home who said she was awakened by the sound of footsteps in her home. When she went to investigate, she saw an unknown person running out of the home, she told police.

There was no contact between the burglar and the resident, a woman in her 60s, police said. The person entered the home by breaking the sliding glass door of an unoccupied bedroom, and although it appeared the burglar rummaged through some drawers in a closet, nothing was taken, police said.

There was no description available of the suspect who was still at large. Police said detectives were exploring the possibility the case is related to another hot prowl burglary that happened on the 800 block of Barron on August 27. In that case, a woman in her 90s was awakened by a phone call from her alarm company and discovered a burglar had rummaged through several rooms and stolen several pieces of jewelry, police said.

Anyone with information about the burglaries was 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.