Atherton police are advising residents to take precautions to protect their property in the wake of two prowler reports, a residential burglary and an auto burglary, all of which took place on Friday, Oct. 11, police said.

In the residential burglary, someone used a rock to shatter a side-door window of a home in the 200 block of Atherton Avenue, possibly between 9:30 p.m. and midnight, police said. The thief or thieves entered the unoccupied home and appears to have gotten away with a "liquor bottle," police said. A search of the area was unproductive in turning up a suspect.

Earlier that afternoon at about 3:30 p.m. on Fairview Avenue, a resident reported seeing a strange man leaving that the property. Later that evening, at 11:15 p.m., police received another prowler report, this time from a residence on Linda Vista Avenue.

The stranger disappeared behind a building, but a motion-activated flood light came on that illuminated the area. Witnesses described the suspect as a white adult male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.

In the auto burglary, on Carolina Lane, a stranger entered an unlocked vehicle parked in a residential driveway, according to a report submitted at 7:49 p.m.

Police are asking residents to be vigilant, use an alarm system if one is in place, lock vehicles and doors, report to police any unusual activity or noises, and consider the use of motion-sensitive lights.