Palo Alto Police Arrest Three Juveniles For Robbery, Car Theft
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) -- Three juveniles reportedly attacked and robbed a woman, and lead police on a high speed chase in a stolen car before being arrested in Palo Alto Monday evening.
Police officials say dispatch received a report of a strong-arm robbery in the parking garage of the Stanford Shopping Center around 8:20 p.m. Responding officers arrived on scene to find the victim, a woman in her 60s, with moderate head and knee injuries.
According to the victim, two cars drove up around her as she left her vehicle to go shopping. Three suspects exited the vehicles and attempted to take her purse, punching her in the back of the head as she refused to let go. She fell on the ground during the scuffle and one of her assailants stomped on her knees.
The suspects fled after she finally let go of the purse. The victim reported the crime to police, providing descriptions of her assailants and their vehicles before being transported to a nearby hospital by the Palo Alto Fire Department.
An officer later spotted a car with the three suspects in downtown Palo Alto but after attempting to stop the vehicle, the suspects gave chase and managed to escape. Later another officer noticed the vehicle on northbound Highway 101 and tried to stop it again, but the suspects continued to lead a chase until they finally came to a halt in Menlo Park and were taken into custody.
The suspects -- one 14 years old, the other two both 12 -- were riding in a white 2016 Mazda sedan reported stolen from Oakland two days before.
Later that evening police received reports that the victim's purse and most of her items had been located on the lawn of a Palo Alto house.
All three suspects are Oakland residents. The Palo Alto Police are not revealing their identities per department policy regarding juveniles.
Police arrested all three suspects for robbery, felony battery and conspiracy to commit a crime. The two 12-year-olds were also charged with providing false information to police, and the 14-year-old driver was also arrested for evading police and vehicle theft.
Investigators suspect that the three suspects were involved in other crimes in the area. They ask that 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. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through
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