Palo Alto police have arrested a juvenile suspect who allegedly robbed two people within less than a half hour of one another last week.
Just after 12:30 PM on Tuesday, December 17, police were alerted to a strong-arm robbery on Hamilton Avenue near Waverley Street. The victim, a woman in her 30s, had reportedly been walking when she was shoved from behind and had her phone snatched out of her hand. She then saw two males flee on foot. Her coworker witnessed the incident and called police.
As officers searched for the pair, dispatch received another call of a strong-arm robbery near Webster Street and Channing Avenue. The second victim, a woman in her 50s, had been approached by two males, one of whom asked to use her phone. When she declined, he allegedly pushed her to the ground and took the phone, then ran east on Channing.
By this time, officers had detailed enough descriptions and soon located the two riding bicycles on Newell Road and Edgewood Drive. They were ordered to stop but instead fled, one of them southbound on Edgewood Drive and the other on foot northbound on Newell Road.
Police stopped the suspect who’d ran on foot, a 16-year-old juvenile, and took him into custody without further incident.
At this time, the second male seen with the suspect is not believed to have been involved in the crimes and is not being sought as a suspect.
