Some of the Peninsula’s wealthiest communties are being hit with an increase in crime, and on Thursday night, some neighbors took action to watch each others’ backs.
In Hillsborough, neighbors and police were keeping an eye out for a black BMW with one broken headlight.
A home surveillance camera captured the car with its driver's side headlight out speeding away from a burglary in Hillsborough on Wednesday afternoon. Another burglary in the city and a home invasion in Portola Valley in the past two weeks prompted a community meeting with police to find answers.
"We do have a lot of neighbors concerned about it," said Terri Cruce, of Hillsborough.
The neighborhood network was formed initially to help each other during an earthquake or other natural disaster, but also to spread alerts on the internet about the spike in burglaries.
"This is how we talk now, via the internet, sending an email about the burglaries," resident Jaime Rupert said. "It’s information and empowerment."
So far, police have not found a link in the crimes.
Local
"We don’t have a uniform pattern of entry into or out of town," said Hillsborough police Capt. Doug Davis. "It’s spread out throughout the community."
Detectives investigating recent burglaries throughout the Peninsula said one similarity stands out.
"They’re not local; they don’t want to be recognized, so they’re coming here, hitting a place, and then they go back home," said Salvador Zuno, a detective with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
