Warrant issued for man accused of entering Steph Curry’s house

An international student accused of walking through the front door of Steph Curry’s Atherton house while his nanny and children were home failed to appear for an arraignment Thursday, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Sheng Gao, 18, entered the Curry home without permission to get an autograph from the Golden State Warriors basketball star on Oct. 15 and was located by police shortly thereafter, in Atherton, a wealthy Silicon Valley enclave 30 miles southeast of San Francisco, San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe told SFGATE. 

Cmdr. Dan Larsen, a spokesperson for the Atherton Police Department, said police received a call at 5:55 p.m. and an officer found Gao walking on El Camino Real in Atherton and admonished him for trespassing. “The officer completed a report and sent it to the DA’s office for charging,” Larsen said.

The charge was elevated from trespassing to aggravated trespassing by the DA’s office, Wagstaffe said. 

“Aggravated trespassing is when you enter into the residence of somebody who is there,” Wagstaffe said. “It’s not a burglary, because to be a burglary we have to show the intent was to steal something.”

Gao was scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on Dec. 7, but “he failed to show up,” the DA said. The court issued a warrant for his arrest with bail set at $500, according to the DA.

Surveillance footage showed that Gao pressed the buttons at the front entry gate of the Curry home and the gate opened, according to Wagstaffe. 

“They looked at the gate code records and it suggested it could have already been open” before Gao pressed the buttons, the DA said. Gao then allegedly walked through the unlocked front door and sauntered into the living room. Neither Steph nor Ayesha were home at the time, but all three of their children were there with the family’s nanny, who reportedly confronted Gao in the living room.

“She then told him to leave and … he walked out,” Wagstaffe said. 

The nanny called 911, and Gao was approached by police in the town of Atherton.

Gao told police that he was an international student from China living in Cupertino, a city 17 miles southeast of Atherton. He had been told by a friend that famous people lived in Atherton, known for being the wealthiest ZIP code in the U.S., and he took the bus there. It’s unclear whether the main purpose of Gao’s trip to Atherton was to go to Curry’s house or generally look for celebrities, Wagstaffe said. 

“Someone had told him a famous basketball player lived on this street and someone told him, ‘That’s Steph Curry’s residence over there,’” Wagstaffe said.

Gao told police that he entered the home “to try to get a signature to Steph Curry,” Wagstaffe said. “He knows that he wasn’t invited in, he said he pressed the buttons on the intercom and the gate opened up.” 

He added: “He’s just a curious person. This just shows, again, Curry’s worldwide fame — he’s got an exchange student walking into his home.”

The Curry family originally moved to Atherton from the East Bay in 2019. They quietly sold their first Atherton residence off market in 2021, before moving into their current home, according to the Almanac. 

This breaking news story has been updated.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:05 p.m., Dec. 8, to clarify Sheng Gao’s interaction with police.