PALO ALTO (KRON) — A woman suspected of burglarizing a home in Palo Alto was tracked down after she dropped her driver’s license during a fight with the home owner.
On Monday morning, the homeowner arrived at her home in the 1000 block of Moffett Circle to find the suspect running out of her home with a backpack full of her property. The home owner tried to stop the woman, a struggle ensued, according to police.
During the fight, the suspect dropped her license. The woman abandoned the stolen property and drove off in her vehicle, police said.
The victim wasted no time calling police and gave them the suspect’s driver’s license number as well as her license plate number.
At 10:56 a.m., police said they located the suspect’s vehicle parked at her residence in the 1900 block of Euclid Avenue in East Palo Alto.
Police arrested 20-year-old Giovanna Vargas Hernandez without incident and booked her into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of felony residential burglary and robbery.
Police said that the suspect entered the house through an unlocked window in the back yard.
The home owner suffered minor injuries in the struggle, but did not require medical treatment. She was able to recover all of her property outside her home, police said.
Detectives are looking into whether this case may be connected to other residential burglaries, either in Palo Alto or surrounding communities.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413.