Woman charged with alleged umbrella attack outside Google co-founder’s house

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A woman was charged at the Palo Alto Courthouse on Tuesday (May 27) for allegedly attacking a security guard with an umbrella outside Google co-founder Larry Page’s house.

Yun “April” Li, 50, of Palo Alto, allegedly tried opening one security guard’s car door and then hit another security guard in the face when she was confronted on March 24, police said.

Palo Alto Officer Andrew Escalante said Li left a security guard with a red mark on the left side of his face near his temple.

Li admitted to hitting the guard with the umbrella, and the argument leading up to the attack was recorded on security cameras, Escalante wrote in his police report.

Neighbor Shir Heimark said Li started harassing her family two months after they moved into the neighborhood in October 2023. Li allegedly tried to get into a car with Heimark’s 1-year-old son and said she was looking for a friend when she was confronted.

“It’s such a bizarre thing, the way she behaves,” Heimark said in an interview last month. Heimark said Li’s behavior is a frequent topic of conversation in the neighborhood, and people are scared, including her nanny. Heimark and another neighbor have restraining orders against Li.

Heimark said she added security cameras to her house, put an alarm on her keychain and bought pepper spray to keep by her bed when her husband is traveling.

“Those are not things I have ever done anywhere else that I’ve lived,” Heimark said.

Heimark said she was disheartened to hear about the violence of the alleged umbrella attack but is hopeful the legal system will find a permanent solution.

“I don’t want to see anything bad to happen to her. I just want to feel safe,” Heimark said.

Li was already facing criminal charges from December for violating restraining orders that prevent her from going near houses on Waverley Oaks, a cul-de-sac in the Old Palo Alto neighborhood.

Police initially listed the umbrella attack as an assault with a deadly weapon, but Li was ultimately charged with a lesser misdemeanor battery charge.

A security guard emailed police with a list of incidents involving Li that started around July 2023, when Li asked to represent the security guard’s clients in a home purchase.

“She was persistent in this venture as she began trying to bribe our secu- rity officers for access,” the security guard said in an email to police that was included in a police report.

“Unfortunately, things started to escalate from there. Her behavior became more troublesome,” the security guard said.

Li, a state-licensed relator, allegedly kept trying to get into occupied security cars parked on the street.

She would walk up and try the passenger side door and sit down if the door was unlocked, the security guard told police.

Security guards in the cars would tell Li to get out, and she would almost always say “I’m sorry” and then walk away, the security guard said.

Security guards recorded almost 25 of these encounters, but it probably happened 30 to 40 times, the security guard said in his email to police.

“It has become almost a daily occurrence,” the security guard said.

A resident obtained a restraining order against Li in September after she opened his front door and had an Uber drop her off in his driveway, police said.

Around the same time, Li allegedly tried to enter a neighbor’s house at night from the back door.

Li told police that it was an accident, and her husband blamed menopause, the security guard said.

Li also opened car doors of contractors, delivery drivers and other neighbors, the security guard said.

The security guard said he was worried Li would get dragged or run over, or that someone would react violently to a stranger getting in their car.