Police: Petaluma woman finds naked burglar inside her home

Authorities combed a north Petaluma neighborhood with police dogs and a helicopter on Tuesday evening in search of a naked man suspected of burglary.

The search began just after 5 p.m., when a woman came home from work and found the man leaving her house in the 400 block of Cortez Drive, a neighborhood wedged between Highway 101 and the Washington Square Shopping Center.

The woman told Petaluma police she opened her front door and spotted the man as he slipped through the sliding glass doors leading to her backyard.

“He was completely naked,” said Sgt. Nicholas Raccanello. “No socks, no nothing.”

The man fled the backyard through a side gate and a witness saw him running north on Cortez toward McKenzie Avenue, police said.

Authorities looked for him for more than two hours before calling off the search when it got dark, according to Raccanello.

The woman told police that nothing had been taken from her home, but she noticed that some of her things had been moved around.

Police continued to investigate on Wednesday, but were not actively searching for the man, according to Raccanello.

The man was described as about 5 feet 7 inches tall with a thin build, black hair that reached his shoulders and no clothes.

Petaluma police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Officer Demetrius Dickerson at 707-778-4372 or ddickerson@cityofpetaluma.org.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.