Woman takes child to home burglary

WASILLA — A homeowner who already had cash stolen from a bureau in his bedroom ended up detaining the burglar when she returned a second time — this time with her daughter waiting in the car.

Diana Palin, 35, sister-in-law of Sarah Palin, was jailed on $10,000 bail, charged with theft, trespassing and two counts of burglary.

Police were called to the home on Mill Site Circle at 9:05 a.m. Thursday.

“This particular victim was burglarized last Tuesday,” said Wasilla Police Department Deputy Chief Greg Wood. “Then on this Thursday he was at home … he saw this vehicle pulling up his driveway. (He) went into his bathroom and waited and Palin entered the residence, navigated pretty much directly to the bedroom where the cash had been taken before.”

He said the homeowner walked into the bedroom. Palin was standing very near the bureau from which $400 had been taken the week prior, according to Wasilla police.

The homeowner detained Palin and called the police. While they were waiting for police, Palin’s 4-year-old daughter wandered into the house looking for her mother.

“We took tire and shoeprint impressions and they were very similar, we can’t say identical, that’s a lab thing, but they matched in similarity tire and shoe print impressions from the burglary on Tuesday,” he said.

As for the identity of the accused burglar, Wood said the homeowner didn’t know her.

And, as far as police are concerned, her familial connection to Wasilla’s most famous resident is immaterial.

“It’s another burglary case for Wasilla Police Department, regardless of who the suspect is or who the defendant is, and we just play these straight up,” Wood said.

He said right now they’re looking to see if there aren’t other burglaries that might be related to this one.

“We’re continuing investigations to see if there’s any leads to any other cases,” Wood said Friday. “We just have some information that we’re going to follow up on tomorrow. We’ll be doing some neighborhood canvassing.”

Palin was arraigned Friday in Palmer District Court. According to court records, Palin has only minor traffic violations on her record. Palin was remanded to the Mat-Su Pretrial facility for two counts of burglary in the 1st degree, theft in the 3rd degree and criminal trespass in the 1st degree. And addition to bail, she is required to have a court-appointed third-party custodian. Prison records early Friday afternoon listed her as an inmate of the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.