Police Investigate Early-Morning Armed Robbery of Pedestrian

Published on March 15, 2022

Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating an armed robbery of a pedestrian that occurred in downtown Palo Alto around 1:00 a.m. this morning.  The victim was not physically injured.  The suspects are unknown and at large.

On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at about 1:00 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a man in his thirties who reported he had just been robbed by two men with a gun in the 300 block of University Avenue.  Police responded immediately but did not locate the suspects.

The investigation revealed that the victim had been walking when he was approached by two men who told him to empty his pockets.  One of the men lifted up his sweatshirt to reveal a black handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants.  The victim complied with the demands, handing the suspects everything in his pockets and also his backpack.  One suspect took the victim’s laptop out of the backpack, but upon learning from the victim that it was a “work” laptop, put it back.  Another suspect took the victim’s cell phone but returned it to him after the other suspect told him not to take it.  The suspects kept two of the victim’s credit cards and walked away eastbound on University Avenue.  The victim called police to report what had occurred.

The victim described the suspects as white males of unknown age.  One was about 5 feet 10 inches tall; the other was a couple of inches shorter.  Both were wearing hooded sweatshirts of unknown color and pants of unknown color.  They were both also wearing face coverings.

Police are actively investigating this incident.  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 paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.