Police Investigate Strong-Arm Robbery by Acquaintance
Published on April 26, 2022
Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating a strong-arm robbery that occurred this afternoon at Stanford Shopping Center, where the victim recognized the suspect as someone with whom she shared an acquaintance. The suspect is at large.
On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at about 4:55 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a victim reporting a strong-arm robbery that had occurred about ten minutes earlier inside Nordstrom at Stanford Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real. The victim, a woman in her twenties, reported that the suspect had fled in a vehicle.
The investigation revealed that the victim had purchased about $2500 worth of items from Nordstrom and was leaving the register when she was verbally accosted by the female suspect (who was accompanied by another woman) inside the store. The victim recognized the suspect as someone with whom she shared an acquaintance. The suspect grabbed the victim’s bags containing her recent purchases out of her hands and ran outside the store. The victim gave chase on foot, and last saw their vehicle traveling eastbound on Sand Hill Road towards El Camino Real. The other woman was driving the vehicle, and the primary suspect was a passenger.
The victim described the suspect as a Black female in her twenties, about 5’1 and 140 pounds. She was wearing a black tank top, black jeans, and sandals. Her accomplice was a Black female in her twenties wearing an orange shirt, black jacket, blue jeans, and a white surgical mask. The victim did not recognize the accomplice. The suspect vehicle was a newer gray 4-door Toyota Camry. There were no weapons involved. The victim complained of abdominal pain after chasing the suspect but declined medical attention.
Police are actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information 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.