On August 25, 1992, Denovo broke into the basement of University House, the residence of Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien on the UC Berkeley campus at 5:51 am, using a blow torch to cut through bars securing a window. This triggered a silent alarm that summoned the University of California Police Department (UCPD); while enroute, the UCPD woke the Chancellor and his wife with a phone call, warning them to lock their bedroom door. Onsite, officers from the UCPD and the Oakland Police Department (OPD) spotted Denovo through a window and demanded she surrender; she fled into the house instead. The OPD had been called in to assist.