Palo Alto PD: Attempted Strong Arm Robbery Suspect At Large

PALO ALTO, CA -- Police are looking for a suspect who attempted to rob a man using physical force on Wednesday night. The same suspect may have attempted to rob another victim just moments before. The suspect has not been identified and remains at large.

At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23, Palo Alto Police received a report of a strong arm robbery that had just occurred in the 200 block of Leland Avenue. The preliminary investigation found that a male pedestrian in his thirties was walking down the street when a male suspect approached him and demanded his cell phone. The man refused and that is when the suspect took a swing at the victim, but missed.

The victim ran away westbound on Leland Avenue and the suspect chased him for an undetermined distance.

The victim reported to officers that just prior to the attempted robbery, he observed the suspect approach another pedestrian and demand the iPad they were holding. The victim stated that pedestrian refused and ran away.

The victim describes the suspect as a black male in his forties, about six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and pants. The suspect appeared to be bald and was carrying a large black garbage bag that was a third full. Before the suspect approached the pedestrians, he was observed talking to himself. It is possible that the victim may be able to meet with a police artist to produce a suspect sketch. If that occurs, we will release it immediately.

This incident does not appear to be related to the strong arm robbery that occurred on Jan. 14, on University Avenue or the one that occurred on Nov. 23, 2018 on a bike path near University Avenue. The suspects in both of those cases have not been identified and remain at large.

Anyone with information about this latest incident is asked to call the PVPD's 24-hour dispatch center at (65) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (65) 383-8984.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the PVPD's free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

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