Palo Alto resident interrupts prowler inside his home; suspect arrested
A man was arrested after allegedly forcing his way into an occupied home in Palo Alto before being confronted by a resident of the home, police said Tuesday.
The incident happened Sunday a few minutes before midnight on the 1700 block of Emerson Street. Palo Alto police said dispatchers received a call from the resident saying he had interrupted someone entering his home who had then fled.
Officers responded to the home and searched the immediate area but did not find the suspect initially. Police said a short time later officers located the suspect in the area of the home and arrested him. He was identified as 28-year-old Thomas Albert Yencken of Palo Alto.
According to police, the investigation revealed that the resident, a man in his 50s, was in his upstairs bedroom when he heard noises downstairs. When he went downstairs to investigate, he saw an unfamiliar person standing in his kitchen. Police said when the resident confronted the stranger, he claimed to have entered the house mistakenly and fled on foot.
Officers later reviewed the victim's security camera footage and saw that the suspect had entered the victim's home by prying a lock on a patio door adjacent to the kitchen, police said. The victim told police he did not notice anything from his home missing or damaged.
Yencken was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for prowling, trespassing, and vandalism, which are all misdemeanor charges. Police also recommended the District Attorney's Office consider a burglary charge.
Anyone with information about the prowling incident 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 or voicemail to (650) 383-8984.