Palo Alto Armed Robbery Suspect May Have Ties To Other Crimes: Cops

PALO ALTO, CA — A South Bay man was arrested early Monday morning in connection with an armed robbery of a juvenile cyclist, the Palo Alto Police Department said in a news release.

Richard Nunez, 34 of Mountain View, was arrested on suspicion of robbery (a felony) and possession of methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia (both misdemeanors), police said.

Detectives are investigating a possible link between this suspect and two recent incidents that occurred in the same vicinity Friday and Monday.

A 16-year-old at around 3 a.m. Monday reported that he’d been robbed on the bike path behind the Town & Country Shopping Center near the 800 block of El Camino Real at about 1:45 a.m.

The victim was riding his bicycle on the bike path when the suspect rode up to him from behind on a bicycle and pulled out a black folding pocketknife demanding the victim turn over his his cell phone and money, police said.

The victim rode his bike to a friend’s house and notified authorities, police said.

An officer at around 3:55 a.m. located a man matching the suspect’s description riding a bicycle southbound in the 4200 block of El Camino Real.

The officer detained the man and found a knife matching the description provided by the victim in the suspect’s pocket, police said.

Officers also found suspected methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia in the suspect’s possession, police said.

The victim’s phone was not recovered.