South Bay Cellphone Thefts Under Investigation

PALO ALTO, CA — Police in Palo Alto are investigating two thefts of mobile phones over the weekend as possibly connected, as a suspect in both cases matches the same description provided by different victims.

The first theft was reported at 3:46 p.m. Saturday by a passerby calling about a fight in progress on the train platform at the Palo Alto Transit Center on University Avenue.

When Palo Alto police arrived, they found the victim on Quarry Road at El Camino Real and that two suspects had fled the scene.

Police said the victim, identified only as a man in his 50s, had been standing on the train platform when a man he did not know approached him and an argument ensued. The suspect allegedly hit the man in the face and both men fell to the ground.

Police said a female suspect then approached and hit the victim in the head several times with a thermos, and the male suspect then stole the victim's mobile phone before both suspects fled the scene.

Police found the mobile phone nearby and returned it to the victim, who suffered multiple lacerations to his head but declined treatment from responding paramedics.

The female suspect was described as a Black woman wearing a beanie and a black jacket. The male suspect was described as a Black man with dreadlocks and wearing all black clothing.

A man matching the same description — except for his clothing of blue jeans and a white T-shirt — threatened a woman Sunday night a block away from the first case.

Police said that an employee of the Sheraton Hotel at 625 El Camino Real called at 9:11 p.m. on behalf of a victim of a threat and mobile phone theft.

Police said the victim — described only as a woman in her 40s — was walking south on El Camino Real near University Avenue when she was approached by a Black man with dreadlocks who asked to use her mobile phone.

When the woman declined and tried to walk away, the suspect threatened to beat her to death, according to police. The victim then ran, dropping the phone intentionally, and headed toward the hotel seeking help.

Police were unable to locate the phone.

Detectives are exploring whether Sunday's case has any possible connection to Saturday's assault.

Anyone with information about either case is asked to call the department's 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.

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