Police calls: Thieves bust in front doors in four Menlo Park home burglaries

This information is based on reports from the Menlo Park Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Under the law, people charged with offenses are considered innocent unless convicted. Police received the reports on the dates shown.

MENLO PARK

Residential burglaries:

• Someone kicked in the front door of a home in the 800 block of Woodland Avenue and stole jewelry, three tote bags, a pillow, a gym bag and kitchen items, including a handheld mixer. Estimated loss: $20,835. Dec. 26.

• A burglar kicked a hole in the front door of a house on Concord Drive, entered the house through the hole and stole three electronic devices, jewelry and passports. Estimated loss: $13,427. Jan. 3.

• A thief kicked in the front door of a house on Madera Avenue and stole a gaming console, jewelry, two tablet computers and some loose change. Estimated loss: $4,347. Dec. 28.

• Someone forced open the front door of a home on Concord Drive and stole a computer. Estimated loss: $3,000. Jan. 4.

Thefts:

• A resident of Terminal Avenue responded to an unsolicited email about a job promising a yearly salary of $90,000 plus bonuses. The job entailed setting up purchase orders, with the resident using his own money to buy gift cards, then forwarding the card numbers to his New York contact. The contact cashed in the cards, but did not compensate the resident, who later determined that he had been scammed. Estimated loss: $7,800. Dec. 23.

• Someone stole an unlocked bicycle from in front of a home on Lennox Avenue. Estimated loss: $2,000. Dec. 23.

• A thief stole an unlocked bike parked in front of the Safeway supermarket at 525 El Camino Real. Estimated loss: $2,000. Dec. 28.

• Someone entered an unlocked vehicle parked on Harvard Avenue and stole a camera lens and sunglasses. Estimated loss: $1,100. Jan. 4.

• A thief stole a gym bag containing a tennis racket from an unlocked vehicle parked on Cambridge Avenue. Estimated loss: $550. Jan. 4.

• From the rear of an unlocked vehicle parked on Modoc Avenue, someone stole a San Francisco Giants sweatshirt, three DVD movies and 10 “sports hats.” Estimated loss: $440. Dec. 26.

• A thief entered Menlo Park Hardware on Santa Cruz Avenue using the back door and stole two ladders. Estimated loss: $375. Jan. 4.

• Someone stole a set of keys and a wallet from inside a vehicle parked on Artisan Drive. In the wallet were a driver’s license, credit and debits cards and $90 in cash. Estimated loss: $349. Dec. 23.

• Someone stole a dress shirt, vehicle registration documents and an earthquake emergency kit from an unlocked vehicle parked at Bedwell Bayfront Park on Marsh Road. Estimated loss; $276. Dec. 23.

• A runner had hidden his bicycling clothing in a bag in some bushes before going on a run at the park, but returned to find that his possessions had been stolen. Estimated loss: $250. Dec. 28.

• A thief entered an unlocked vehicle parked in the 1100 block of Willow Road and stole a backpack, cleaning supplies, two cellphones and a car cleaning kit. Estimated loss: $240. Jan. 5.

• Employees at CVS pharmacy at 700 El Camino Real confronted a man about to leave the store with merchandise he hadn’t paid for. The man returned some but not all of the merchandise and fled with a cigarette lighter and sunglasses. Estimated loss: $26. Jan. 5.

• Someone entered an unlocked vehicle parked on Cambridge Avenue and stole two “care packages” containing toothpaste, cash and socks from the front floorboard. Estimated loss: $10. Jan. 4.

• A thief stole $5 from the center console of an unlocked vehicle parked on Yale Road. Jan. 4.

• A thief stole about $4 in change from an unlocked vehicle parked on Cotton Street. Jan. 4.

Auto burglaries:

• A burglar smashed a rear side window of a vehicle parked at Bedwell Bayfront Park on Marsh Road and stole a purse, a tablet computer and $750 in cash. Estimated loss: $2,450. Dec. 23.

• A thief entered a vehicle by means unknown parked in the 500 block of El Camino Real and stole a purse, a wallet, rosary beads and $150 in cash. Estimated loss: $1,253. Dec. 23.

• Someone smashed a window on a vehicle parked on Sharon Road and stole a leather briefcase containing papers and legal documents. Estimated loss: $500.

• A burglar smashed a rear side window of a vehicle parked on Noel Drive and stole a gym bag from the back seat. The owner said the stolen items were of no value. Dec. 28.

Shoplifting:

• Police caught up with and arrested a man at the Caltrain station suspected of having stolen merchandise from the CVS pharmacy at 700 El Camino Real. Police charged the man with burglary and possession of narcotics paraphernalia and released him. The merchandise was recovered. Jan. 2.

• Police arrested a man suspected of shoplifting about $138 in merchandise from the Safeway supermarket on Sharon Park Drive, issued the man a citation and released him. The merchandise was recovered. Jan. 3.

Stolen vehicles:

• A gold 1991 Honda Accord from a parking lot in the 1300 block of Willow Road. Dec. 24.

• An unlocked red 2006 Ford Focus that had the vehicle key in the ashtray. Dec. 26.

• An unlocked black 2007 Acura TSX with the engine running from a parking lot on Hamilton Avenue. Jan. 5.

WOODSIDE

Dog bite: A resident of Northridge Lane told a deputy that his dog had been bitten by his neighbor’s dog, and that the neighbor shouted racial slurs and brandished a shotgun after the biting incident. Dec. 12, 2016.

PORTOLA VALLEY

Soliciting: After receiving several calls from residents about a man going door to door trying to sell books and magazines, a deputy located the man in the vicinity of Tan Oak Drive and issued a citation. It was the same man who’d been cited three days earlier in Woodside for the same offense, deputies said. Dec. 12.

Suspicious circumstances: A resident of Golden Oak Drive told deputies that he’d heard his mailbox being closed after seeing a man walking back and forth on the street in front of his house. After the man drove away, the resident checked his mailbox and reported nothing missing. Deputies searched the area but did not find any suspects. Dec. 13.

WEST MENLO PARK

Theft: Someone entered an unlocked vehicle parked in the 2000 block of Sand Hill Road and stole several items from inside. Estimated loss: $1,150. Dec. 16.

Soliciting: A deputy met with and issued a citation to a door-to-door salesman who’d been soliciting without a permit in the vicinity of Altschul Avenue. Dec. 14.

Dispute over cellphone: A resident of Hillside Avenue told deputies that she’d contacted an Uber driver after mistakenly leaving her cellphone in the driver’s vehicle. She said she called the driver after tacking her phone to the driver’s residence. In a conversation with the driver that included an argument, she told deputies that she was unsuccessful in retrieving her phone. Dec. 16.

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By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce