Palo Alto home burglary victim finds suspect drinking a glass of wine at his kitchen table, police say
By Carlos E. Castañeda
A Palo Alto resident returned home over the weekend to find a burglar sitting at his kitchen table indulging in a glass of wine, police said.
The incident happened at about noon on Sunday at a home on Bryant Street south of Oregon Avenue in the city’s Midtown neighborhood. The Palo Alto Police Department said in a press release that the resident, a man in his 70s, left his home in the morning and when he returned home, he found an intruder sitting in the kitchen and drinking his wine.
The man told the suspect to leave, and after the suspect left, the resident called police to report the incident. The resident also reported that his house had been rummaged through. Officers arrived and searched the neighborhood, finding and detaining the suspect without incident, police said.
The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Sabina Blanco of San Francisco, who was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for felony residential burglary, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor battery on a police officer for allegedly spitting on an officer, police said.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be sent by text or voicemail to (650) 383-8984, or on the “TipNow-Palo Alto” app.
