Police Arrest Suspect in Monday Night’s Robbery at Baskin Robbins

Published on March 26, 2021

Palo Alto, CA – Following an armed robbery on Monday night at a Palo Alto ice cream store, detectives identified the suspect as the same man who had committed multiple other robberies in recent weeks in other Bay Area cities. After personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service and the San Jose Police Department arrested the suspect on Wednesday night in San Jose for other robberies, detectives served an arrest warrant on him today for the Palo Alto case as well.

On Monday, March 22, 2021, at about 7:41 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call of an armed robbery that had occurred about 35 minutes earlier at the Baskin Robbins ice cream store at 2615 Middlefield Road. The investigation revealed that the suspect entered the business and ordered food. When the victim employee, a woman in her twenties, returned with the food to complete the transaction, the suspect pointed a black semi-automatic handgun at her, ordered her to open the cash register, and took money. A subsequent review of video surveillance footage showed that he had also stolen money from the tip jar while the employee was preparing his food. The suspect then exited the store and was last seen driving southbound on Middlefield Road in a four-door sedan.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 23, 2021, the Palo Alto Police Department distributed a news release about the robbery and included a still image of the suspect. Detectives worked collaboratively with regional partner law enforcement agencies who were investigating similar robberies in their own jurisdictions and were soon able to identify the suspect as 30-year old Justin Michael Tucker. On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, personnel from the U.S. Marshals Service (Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force) and the San Jose Police Department Robbery Unit arrested Tucker in San Jose and booked him into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

On March 26, 2021, Palo Alto police detectives received an arrest warrant from the Santa Clara County Superior Court on Tucker for one count of felony robbery for the crime he committed at the Palo Alto Baskin Robbins. Detectives served the warrant on him while he was in custody at the Santa Clara County Main Jail. The booking photo from his arrest on March 24, 2021 is attached to this release.

For more information about the suspect’s involvement in other area robberies, refer to this news release from the San Jose Police Department distributed on March 26, 2021.

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.