Window-smashing thieves target Palo Alto rental cars

Burglars broke into eight cars in two downtown Palo Alto parking garages Monday night between the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., police said.

In six of the cars, the burglars stole personal property left in plain sight, including electronic devices and a purse, police said.

In the two other cars, burglars rummaged through the vehicles but didn’t take anything, according to police. Five of the cars were rental cars, and it’s possible that the burglars targeted them with the thought that businesspeople travel with electronic devices, police said.

Six of the burglaries happened on the third and fourth floors of City Parking Garage R at 528 High St., and two happened on the upper floors of City Parking Garage J at 520 Webster St., police said. In each burglary, the burglars smashed the windows to enter the cars, according to police.

Police are investigating the burglaries, and uniformed officers have increased their patrols, but don’t have any information on potential suspects at this time. Police advise the public not to leave valuable items in their cars or to keep them out of sight so as not to attract the attention of burglars.

No witnesses have yet come forward in these cases, but police ask anyone with information about the crimes to contact police dispatch at (650) 329-2413 or send an anonymous email to paloalto@tipnow.org.