Police Arrest Man Downtown for Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Published on July 08, 2025

Palo Alto, CA – Police arrested a man on Sunday morning for assaulting a man with a deadly weapon.

On Sunday, July 6, 2025, at about 9:55 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting a man throwing chairs on the sidewalk of the 100 block of University Avenue.  Police arrived on scene shortly thereafter and located a man who reported that he had just been assaulted.  

The investigation revealed that the victim, a man in his thirties, had been walking on University Avenue when he was approached by a man who threatened to harm him without provocation.  The two men did not know each other.  The suspect then picked up a table and threw it at the victim.  The victim was able to block the table with his forearm.  Police arrived on scene and detained the suspect without incident.  The victim sought medical treatment on his own for minor pain in his arm.

Officers booked 42-year-old Phillip Dontay Steward of Palo Alto into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats (both felonies), and vandalism (a misdemeanor, for damaging the table).  Steward’s booking photograph appears above.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.  Anonymous tips can be sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984, or submitted using the “TipNow-Palo Alto” app, which is available via the App Store or Google Play.