2 arrests made in Palo Alto tobacco store robbery, 6 suspects still sought
PALO ALTO – Two suspects were charged on Tuesday for their participation in an armed robbery of a Palo Alto tobacco store in January.
Suspects 18-year-old Michael Earle of Menlo Park and 19-year-old Andrew Maravilla-Lopez of Hayward had already been arrested for other armed robberies by the San Jose Police Department in April.
On Jan. 13 at 9:54 p.m., Palo Alto police received a call from a clerk at Raw Smoke Shop on California Avenue. According to police, he reported being pistol-whipped and robbed by a group of eight suspects who had fled the scene.
While investigating, detectives soon discovered that Earle and Maravilla-Lopez had been involved in other armed robberies throughout the area, and the San Jose Police Department eventually arrested them and four other suspects on April 14.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office filed one felony charge of robbery against each of the two suspects, and a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge signed warrants for their arrests.
On Tuesday, police served the warrants while both men were still in custody at the Elmwood Correctional Facility from their April 14 arrests.
The investigation into the remaining six outstanding suspects in the tobacco store robbery is ongoing. Police said they do not have evidence connecting any of the other suspects arrested by the San Jose Police Department on April 14 to the Palo Alto crime.
