Palo Alto Robberies, 5/13/13 and 5/15/13

Stanford Police would like to make the community aware of recent robberies in neighboring downtown Palo Alto:

From Palo Alto PD -- On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at about 11:17 a.m., the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center received a report of a robbery that had occurred the night before around 10:45 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013.

The investigation revealed that the victim, a woman in her twenties who is an employee of a downtown business, had been walking westbound on the north sidewalk of the 200 block of Hamilton Avenue. As she crossed the alleyway named Lane 12 West (which is located mid-block between Ramona Street and Emerson Street), a man grabbed her ponytail and pulled her backwards into the alley. As he held her hair, he demanded money. She gave him money out of her purse, at which point he released her hair and ran away northbound through the alley. The victim filed the report with police the following morning.

The victim never saw the suspect, and could only describe him as a male who was taller than 5 feet 5 inches tall. She said the suspect had a deep, raspy voice with no accent.

Then on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, at about 9:57 p.m., the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center received a call of an attempted robbery that had just occurred in the 700 block of Emerson Street. Two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, attempted to rob three women walking together in downtown Palo Alto last night. The women fled on foot and no property was taken.

The investigation revealed that the victims (one in her thirties, one in her forties, and one in her fifties) were walking together northbound on the west side of the 700 block of Emerson Street. Two men stepped out from an alcove of a business. One of them pointed a gun at the women and demanded their property. The victims immediately separated and ran in different directions, each going to a nearby open business and asking for help to call police. The suspects did not pursue them, and instead were last seen running together southbound on Emerson Street towards Homer Avenue. Officers arrived on scene immediately, but were not able to locate any suspects.

The victims described the first suspect as a Hispanic male in his twenties, between 5 feet 3 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall. He had a medium build, and was wearing dark clothing and a covering over his face. He was armed with a small black handgun. The victims could only describe the second suspect as a "tall" male with a blue bandanna covering his face. No suspect sketches will be forthcoming.

Detectives are investigating both of these incidents, including any possible connections between the two. Officers are increasing patrols in the downtown area.

Anyone with information about either robbery can contact the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

We continue to recommend that you remain aware of your surroundings when out in public, and we encourage you to report suspicious behavior immediately via 9-1-1.

Posted 05/16/13

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