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Mountain View police have arrested four suspects they say committed armed robbery with a semiautomatic assault handgun in front of the police station Friday night.
At approximately 11:50 p.m. Friday, two men in their late 20s were walking near the corner of Villa and Franklin streets when a blue Dodge Dakota pickup truck pulled up, according to police. Police say three men and one woman got out of the truck and robbed the men of their wallets with a Leinad 380, an illegal assault weapon.
“We got the report of this basically instantaneously,” said police spokesperson Liz Wylie, who added that the victims flagged down a Fire Department battalion chief who was driving near the station.
A quick description of the suspects and vehicle were dispatched to police, said Wylie, “and then pretty quickly thereafter one of the officers saw the vehicle.”
Wylie said the officer, who was alone, followed the truck from the corner of Rengstorff Avenue and Old Middlefield Road until enough units arrived to stop the vehicle as safely as possible on Highway 101 at Embarcadero Road. She said the California Highway Patrol also shut down a portion of 101 near the Embarcadero exit. The arrest “went without incident, thankfully,” she said.
Wylie said keeping traffic out of the way in a case like this is much safer for everyone, “especially with this type of gun involved,” which she described as an “Uzi-type” weapon.
“When we recovered the gun the victims identified it as well,” she said, calling it a “gnarly weapon” that police are “glad to take off the street.”
Arrested were Ottoiela Saenz, 21, of Sunnyvale; Jonathan Gomez, 22, of San Mateo; Jose Diaz, 18, of East Palo Alto; and Christopher Enriquez, 39, of East Palo Alto. All were charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery and booked into county jail. Enriquez was charged with possession of the illegal weapon.
Wylie called committing robbery in front of the police station “a really brazen sort of move,” although she noted that none of the suspects are from Mountain View and so possibly didn’t know where they were. In the end, the stolen wallets only contained about $22.
Friday night’s robbery was the most recent in an apparent surge of armed robberies in Mountain View, including at Kragen Auto Parts, Cigarette Express and Wells Fargo Bank. Wylie said the cases most likely are not related.
“They’re all robberies, but they’re all very different and it’s kind of random,” Wylie said. “We’re just getting hit right now — cops will be the first to tell you it comes in waves.”
Now those were four stupid people. It looks like they will be away from the public for a long time…
That Officer is a hero. Please recognize him. Great job Mtn View Police!
Indeed, please recoginze him or HER for a job well done.
MVPD doesn’t put up with any —-
Unlike Palo Alto where they hassle visitors and ignore the panhandlers.
At least they managed to run off that short guy with the baseball hat it seems. Only took 3 or batteries on local bouncers and wait staff.
The bouncers keep downtown Paly safer than the cops do
What a bunch of idiots, they should be awarded with custom made leather thongs with Vaseline holder’s for there future prison sentence.
All I can add is what a bunch of lowlifes these dumbsters are….
“Gnarly” weapon dude. Robberies totally coming in waves. MVPD valley girl spokesperson…like awesome work cop bro! Peace out!
Great job MVPD. Good thinking and swift action. To all robbers and thieves who are reading this forum..Please stop your criminal activities and do real honest jobs like the rest of us.
ON the GUN give credit to Mr Ingram for the Mac 11 it is not a UZI by any stretch and a machine pistol not assault weapon and is used by Military and Police.
Good Job and Many thanks to the MV PD for the quick response and action to get the bad folk off the streets.
Sorry cc, it was not a HER. It was a young latino PO… Orale!
Actually, a job well done for *all* concerned (The victims, the MVFD Batallion Chief and the responding MVPD officers). When citizens are proactive in reporting crime in this fashion, they become the extra eyes and ears of the police, and a vital link in the chain of crime prevention and solution.