Police Investigating Strong-Arm Robbery of Juvenile Cyclist

Published on July 08, 2022

Palo Alto, CA – A male suspect pushed a 16-year-old cyclist off her bicycle, stole her cell phone, and ran away.  The victim was not physically injured, and the suspect is at large.

On Friday, July 8, 2022, at about 3:15 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from the victim of a strong-arm robbery that had occurred around 1:30 p.m. in the 00 block of Embarcadero Road.

The investigation revealed that the victim, a 16-year-old female, was riding her bicycle westbound on the north sidewalk of Embarcadero Road, approaching the intersection at El Camino Real.  An unknown suspect pushed her from behind, causing her to fall off her bicycle into bushes.  The suspect then reached into her pocket, grabbed her cell phone, and ran northbound into the Town & Country Shopping Center parking lot.  The victim did not sustain any physical injuries.

Around 3:30 p.m., a passerby located the victim’s phone in the roadway on Galvez Street at Nelson Road on the Stanford campus.  The victim’s debit card, which had been inside the cell phone case, was missing and is still outstanding.

The victim described the suspect as a white male adult of unknown age, about six feet tall with a medium build.  She said he was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and a black face covering that looked like a surgical mask.

Detectives are actively investigating this case.  There have been no similar robberies reported to police in Palo Alto recently.

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.