Following Business Dispute, Suspect Robs and Runs Over Victim
Published on October 01, 2021
Palo Alto, CA – Police arrested a suspect earlier this week who, following a business dispute with the victim, robbed her of her cell phone and ran her over while fleeing the scene in his vehicle. The victim sustained major injuries but is in stable condition.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, at about 11:33 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a report of a vehicle / pedestrian collision in the 3400 block of El Camino Real. Officers and personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department responded immediately, and located the victim, a woman in her forties, sitting in the roadway. The vehicle that had struck her had fled the scene. Paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital.
The investigation revealed that the victim is an employee at a nearby spa and massage business. The suspect was a patron of the business, and after receiving a massage, went to the victim cashier to pay. The suspect and victim got into a dispute over the suspect’s credit card receipt not reflecting the tip amount he had added. The suspect eventually took both copies of the receipt (his own and the merchant’s copy) and walked out.
The victim followed the suspect and called her supervisor on her cell phone. As the suspect got into his car, the victim attempted to take the merchant’s copy of the receipt from him. The suspect tried to take the victim’s phone from her as he began to drive away. The victim tried to hold onto her phone, but fell as she did so, and one of the rear wheels of the suspect’s vehicle ran over her as the suspect left. The victim’s cell phone could not be found, and police believe the suspect successfully took it from her during the struggle.
Detectives were soon able to identify the suspect as 31-year-old Juan Carlos Valdivia of San Jose and worked on the case over the weekend. On the morning of Monday, September 27, detectives presented the case to a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, who issued an arrest warrant on Valdivia for three felonies (assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, and hit-and-run causing injury).
At about 1:30 p.m. on Monday, September 27, detectives located the suspect in the 2400 block of Gellert Boulevard in South San Francisco and took him into custody without incident pursuant to the arrest warrant. Detectives also found the vehicle used during the commission of the crime (a gold 2005 Honda CRV) at the arrest location and towed it for evidence processing. The victim’s cell phone has not been located.
The victim sustained major injuries (multiple broken bones) that required hospitalization, but she is in stable condition.
Police booked the suspect into the Santa Clara County Main Jail pursuant to the arrest warrant. A booking photo of the suspect is attached to this release.
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.