A man dressed as an Amazon delivery driver knocked repeatedly on a Milpitas woman's front door on September 16, seemingly checking whether anyone was inside. When no one answered, he walked away — and about 30 minutes later, two masked men pulled up outside her house and broke in, making off with a safe full of heirloom jewelry and important documents worth roughly $70,000.
The victim, Donna Kato, was not home and was not expecting any deliveries that day, according to KTVU. The man at her door wore what appeared to be a standard company outfit and is believed to have served as a lookout, leaving once it was clear the house was empty. Soon after, according to the station's report, two masked men got out of a Chevrolet Cruze while the driver stayed behind the wheel, and the group entered Kato's backyard through a side gate before disabling her ring cameras and knocking her alarm system offline.
The burglars then shattered a sliding glass door to get inside, per the same account, and headed straight for Kato's bedroom closet, where they found an unbolted safe. The safe was heavy enough that it reportedly took two or three men to lift it into the getaway car, and it left marks on Kato's floor as they dragged it out — KTVU's report notes the crew struggled to fit it into the Cruze.
Heirlooms and Vital Records Gone in Minutes
Inside the safe were pieces Kato can't replace: her late mother's diamond, emerald and gold necklace, her mother's wedding ring, and a watch, the station reports. The thieves also took passports, birth certificates and a marriage license — documents Kato and her family will now have to painstakingly replace.
A separate account of the same break-in, published by stolen911.com, adds detail on the timeline, placing the burglary between 2:14 p.m. and 2:24 p.m. that Wednesday while the homeowners were out of town. That report describes the impostor as wearing an Amazon blue vest and blue face mask, carrying a cardboard box he never delivered, and says he had a distinct tattoo on the back of his left upper arm. It also states the stolen safe held a vintage Omega diamond bracelet watch with its original box, along with driver's licenses and checkbooks in addition to the other documents.
“It's just very upsetting beyond words. It's very emotional,” Kato told KTVU, saying the burglary left her feeling violated and less safe in her own home.
License Plate Data Traces a Cruze Through Milpitas
According to a Milpitas police report cited by KTVU, license plate readers captured the Chevrolet Cruze first entering Milpitas hours before the break-in occurred. Stolen911.com's account offers specifics on that trail, reporting the car was spotted entering Milpitas on eastbound Dixon Landing Road at California Circle at 11:48 a.m. before it entered the targeted cul-de-sac and parked at 2:11 p.m. That report also describes the car as a dark blue or black four-door Cruze with heavily tinted windows displaying a paper California temporary tag taped over a permanent plate, and says a formal report was filed with the Milpitas Police Department under case number 26259137. The site's investigator suggested the crew may have spent nearly two hours probing neighborhoods for quiet streets and vulnerable houses before settling on Kato's home.
Kato has hired Marc Hinch, a private investigator with Stolen 911 and a former California Highway Patrol officer, to help track down her stolen property. Hinch told KTVU the burglars blended in and hoped no one would notice them, and he believes the crew may have cased other homes in the area as well. Kato said she hopes the jewelry, especially the pieces that belonged to her mother, can still be recovered.
Amazon told KTVU it was investigating whether any of its drivers were in the area at the time, and the company said its drivers do not normally knock on doors unless a delivery is prearranged or specifically requested by the customer.
A Pattern Playing Out Across the Bay Area
Kato's case fits a pattern police in other Bay Area cities have already flagged. Concord police warned residents about a thief posing as a delivery driver who knocked on doors and, when no one answered, slipped around the side gate to break in, according to NBC Bay Area. That suspect wore a seasonal-worker UPS vest and was linked to at least two break-ins, with a Nissan Murano spotted outside each scene. A Concord police representative advised residents to be suspicious of anyone who doesn't look like an actual delivery worker or isn't wearing a lanyard with identification.
Oakland has seen a similar spike. The Oakland Police Department reported an uptick in residential burglaries involving suspects disguised as Amazon workers, according to KRON4. In those cases, suspects wore Amazon delivery vests and rang doorbells to check if anyone was home before breaking in, taking items and driving off; the department did not specify how many burglaries occurred or exactly where. KRON4 also noted a Sonoma County man reported a nearly identical scheme back in August 2021, suggesting the tactic has circulated in the region for years.
