A suspect with a handgun robbed a male pedestrian of his wallet and cell phone late last night. The suspect is unknown and remains at large.
On Saturday, March 10, 2018 at about 11:07 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a report of an armed robbery that had recently occurred in the 500 block of Homer Avenue. Officers responded to the area immediately but could not locate the suspect.
The investigation revealed that the victim, a man in his twenties, had been walking eastbound on the north sidewalk of the 500 block of Homer Avenue at about 10:50 p.m. The suspect approached him from behind and demanded his wallet. The victim attempted to run away eastbound on Homer Avenue, but the suspect caught up to him and pushed him to the ground. The suspect stood over the victim, placed a handgun to the victim’s forehead, and again demanded his property. The victim gave the suspect his wallet and cell phone, and the suspect ran away westbound on Homer Avenue. The victim went a friend’s house and called 9-1-1. The victim sustained minor abrasions as a result of being pushed to the ground.
The victim described the suspect as a black or Hispanic male in his twenties, about 5 feet 6 inches tall with a thin build. The victim said the suspect was wearing a white and red bandanna over his face, a white and red baseball hat, a dark-colored jacket, and loose-fitting blue jeans. The victim described the weapon as a dark-colored handgun. A police sketch of the suspect is not likely to be produced, since the suspect’s face was covered.
Detectives are actively investigating this incident. This is the first armed street robbery in Palo Alto of 2018.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at www.bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or www.bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.
