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Arrest made in $1K robbery on Terra Bella

by Kelsey Mesher

Police have a Mountain View man in custody following a late-night armed robbery on Terra Bella Avenue last week in which the victim lost more than $1,000 in cash.

At about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 3, an employee of Elit Litigation Solutions at 1160 Terra Bella Ave. was exiting the business when two men approached him, one of them holding a small handgun, and demanded his wallet, said police spokesperson Liz Wylie.

The men took the victim's wallet and car keys — although they didn't take his car — before ordering him back inside the building, Wylie said. The wallet reportedly contained more than $1,000 in cash that the man was intending to use to pay his rent.

The victim described the robbers only as black male adults of average height and build, and said they fled in a beige or gold Lexus or Toyota. Twenty minutes later, a patrol officer somewhere in the vicinity of the crime pulled over a Toyota Camry with two black male adults inside, Wylie said.

"We had nothing to connect the two at the time," she said, adding that "They weren't even wearing necessarily the right clothing." However, "We took down their names, and the officers documented that they had talked to them and released them."

Soon after, Wylie said, the detective investigating the case obtained a surveillance tape from the company. Patrol officers recognized one of the men in the tape as one of those in the vehicle that evening, she said.

"Since we knew who he was and had him identified, we ended up getting a search warrant," she said.

The following day, on Thursday, March 4, 18-year-old Dante Brown was arrested in his Rock Street home in Mountain View, Wylie said. He was booked into the main jail in San Jose for one count of robbery. A second suspect remains at large, she said.

Wylie said some evidence was found at Brown's residence, but she would not specify what it was. "We believe he is the one with the gun, but we did not locate the gun, she said, adding that the stolen items have not yet been recovered.