Elderly Victim Startled When Confronted By Burglar Who Had Taken Her Vacuum: Report

A man robbed an 80-year-old woman’s home for a small vacuum and now has been swept up in a criminal case, police said.

Around 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 11, police in Palo Alto, California, received a call from the victim who reported a burglary in progress.

The woman said she heard a banging noise on her first floor and went to investigate, police said. She then saw a man walking up the stairs. She screamed and the man ran away, police noted.

Investigators determined the suspect had forced his way into the home by breaking a glass door. Inside, he rummaged through part of the home and stole a small vacuum cleaner.

The parts to the vacuum were later found scattered outside the home.

Police identified the suspect as Gonzalez Martinez and an officer spotted him a couple of hours later. He tried to run into an Inn, but was quickly apprehended, police said.

He was booked into jail on a charge of residential burglary.