Palo Alto police booked a resident on aggravated domestic violence charges Aug. 1 and processed the summer's largest single report log, covering cases from July 2 through Aug. 2 as the department continues to operate below pre-pandemic staffing levels.

Jose Santiago PonceGonzalez, 41, of Palo Alto was booked at 12:07 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, on charges of aggravated corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and corporal injury on a child following an incident on Sheridan Avenue, according to the PAPD report log published Aug. 3–4.

The log also documents a felony failure-to-appear booking, two burglaries, a motor vehicle theft and an unusual batch of at least 16 found-property reports filed simultaneously at 400 California Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 2. All were logged at 9:52 a.m., suggesting a single batch submission. PAPD has not publicly explained what prompted the cluster.

Property crimes span multiple neighborhoods

Burglaries hit 855 El Camino Real on July 24 and 3441 Alma St. on July 27. The El Camino address has drawn repeat police calls this summer, as we reported July 29. A motor vehicle theft was reported at 4232 Dake Ave. on Aug. 2, and grand theft of vehicle parts was logged at 209 Oregon Ave. on July 17 and 401 Quarry Road on July 27.

A theft from a motor vehicle was also reported at 4157 Byron St. on Aug. 2, and a felony impersonation case surfaced on Matadero Avenue the same day.

Repeat bookings and warrant arrests

Matthew Taylor, 39, of Penryn was booked Aug. 2 at 850 Bryant St. on a felony bench warrant for failure to appear. Davion Aaron Douglas, 33, of Palo Alto was booked July 29 on an outside felony warrant at 445 Bryant St., the same address where he was previously booked for public nuisance in June.

Colleen Marie Krieger, 57, of Redwood City appears twice in this log: booked July 27 for public nuisance at Encina Avenue and Urban Lane, then again July 31 for felony possession of a controlled substance with prior convictions at 95 University Ave. Krieger has appeared in at least five PAPD logs this summer.

Two additional public nuisance bookings occurred July 30 alone, at addresses on Emerson Street, Encina Avenue.

Staffing context

The log lands as PAPD operates with 86 sworn officers, well below its pre-pandemic level of 155. A Baker Tilly audit released in May found the department's response times met goals only 65–80% of the time since 2021, and that officers are frequently pulled from investigations to fill patrol shifts. The audit noted misdemeanor and non-violent crime cases are "often left unresolved" as a result.

Chief James Reifschneider said in April, when he took over the department, that "intensifying sworn officer recruitment efforts" would be a key focus. PAPD's $58 million annual budget funds roughly 42,000 calls for service per year.