A week of thefts and burglaries in Menlo Park

March got off to a rough start in Menlo Park, where victims of crime extended from the west to the east sides of town. A $9,000 wedding ring, a $1,000 sweater and two potholders are among the items stolen in more than 30 burglaries and thefts.

Menlo Park police on Monday, March 3, arrested and booked into San Mateo County jail a man and Jessica Lawler, 22, of San Jose. The two are suspects in some 17 burglaries and thefts on March 3 in the area of Hedge Road in the Flood Park neighborhood of Menlo Park.

The male suspect faces burglary charges and being under the influence of a controlled substance. Ms. Lawler also faces controlled-substance charges and was booked into jail on a parole hold, police said.

Police responded to reports of two people in a heated argument in the area of Bay Road and Harmon Drive. A search turned up one person hiding behind a parked vehicle on Lorelei Lane and another running from the area of Marsh and Bay roads, police said.

A search also turned up a large amount of stolen property hidden in the rear yard of a residence, including property from the reported burglaries and thefts, police said.

At around 7:45 a.m. on March 3, police were called about an overnight burglary of an occupied residence in the 100 block of Hedge Road. The house had been entered via a rear door and someone stole $14,800 in goods, including an Apple iPad, a Kindle Fire, a purse, digital recorder, camera, two laptop computers and two men’s watches, police said.

While on that scene, police received more reports of residential and vehicle burglaries and thefts in the same area.

Two auto burglaries on Oakhurst Place led to the loss of a $300 pair of sunglasses and $1 in change from one vehicle, and from another $90 in cash, gift cards and movie tickets, police said. One vehicle was locked and the other unlocked.

An unlocked vehicle on Hedge Road yielded a blood-pressure cuff in another burglary; the cuff was later recovered, police said.

Thieves opened nine more unlocked vehicles parked on Hedge Road, Greenwood Drive and Oakhurst Place. Some were left ransacked without anything missing, police said. The stolen items, many of which were recovered, included a $100 hand-held marine radio, a total of $238 in cash, gift cards, the two potholders, checkbooks, and identification materials.

In a house on Theresa Court, someone tried to climb in through an unlocked bathroom window, but fled after encountering a resident, police said.

More burglaries

The $9,000 wedding ring was reported stolen from a dresser drawer of a residence on Santa Cruz Avenue on March 4. The ring was later pawned, police said. A Santa Cruz Avenue home under construction was robbed of $1,234 in bathroom fixtures, police said in a March 1 report.

Two bicycles locked together and having a total value of $4,298 were stolen from an Arbor Avenue carport, according to a March 6 report.

On Ivy Drive in an incident reported March 1, someone entered a home, possibly through an unlocked door, and stole three gold bracelets and a gold ring for a total loss of about $1,500, police said.

Someone entered a Woodland Avenue home through an open window and stole change and a flashlight, a loss of $35, police said in a March 3 report.

In two incidents on Continental Drive reported Feb. 28 and March 5, would-be burglars made attempts at entry. One house showed holes drilled into a back door and in the other, someone used a crowbar on a rear sliding door, police said.

A man entered Draeger’s Supermarket at 1010 University Drive with an empty shopping bag and walked out with it full of groceries that he hadn’t paid for. The groceries were recovered and the suspect, a San Francisco man, was arrested, police said.

A scattering of auto burglaries, including two involving smashed windows and one with a door pried open, left the owners bereft of a $500 radar detector (on Garwood Way), and a pair of sunglasses and a USB drive for a loss of $360 (on Encinal Avenue). Nothing was taken in the other two incidents, police said.

Thieves at large

Someone left a necklace in a hotel room on Sand Hill Road but did not notice its absence until arriving home, police said. The necklace, valued at $3,840, was not in the room when the victim contacted the hotel, according to a March 3 report.

A woman sitting in a chair in the 2800 block of Sand Hill Road had placed on the chair next to her a Louis Vuitton purse containing a Gucci wallet, $20 in cash and an Apple iPhone. She looked up a few minutes later and saw that her purse was gone, a total loss of $3,155, police said in a March 1 report.

That same day, a man was seen on a video surveillance camera stealing a $998 Chanel cardigan sweater from Afterwards Clothing Store at 1159 El Camino Real, police said.

Cash, wallets and purses were stolen from an open work area at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at 351 Middlefield Road, police said in a March 4 report.