Police Investigating Overnight Robbery Attempt at Transit Center

Published on July 11, 2022

Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating a strong-arm robbery attempt that occurred before 4 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Palo Alto Transit Center.  The victim was not physically injured, and the suspect is at large.

On Sunday, July 10, 2022, at about 3:43 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office reporting that a robbery had occurred about ten minutes earlier at the Palo Alto Transit Center at 95 University Avenue.  Officers responded immediately and contacted the victim, a man in his sixties.

The investigation revealed that the suspect rode up to the victim on a black bicycle near the bus turnaround.  The suspect demanded money from the victim and threatened to harm him.  The victim did not comply with the suspect’s demands, and instead began to yell for help.  The suspect then rode away southbound through the Transit Center.

The victim described the suspect as a Hispanic male adult of unknown age, about 5 feet 10 inches with a heavyset build (250-300 pounds).  The victim said he was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and a face covering.  The victim said the same suspect had robbed him previously at another bus stop along Lawrence Expressway about five months ago; at that time, the suspect had been armed with a knife and had taken cash from the victim. 

Detectives are actively investigating this case, including to see if there is any possible connection between this case and the one reported to police on July 8 (despite the difference in suspect description); for more information on that earlier incident, read the news release we distributed about it that day.

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.