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A man was arrested for allegedly robbing a teenage boy of his cellphone and money on a bike path behind Town and Country Village in Palo Alto on July 11, 2022. Map by Jamey Padojino.
Police arrested a man who allegedly robbed a teenage bicyclist on a path behind Town & Country Village shopping center in Palo Alto early Monday morning.
The bicyclist, a 16-year-old boy, was traveling south on the bike path at around 1:45 a.m. when he heard someone tell him to stop. Once he did, a man on a bicycle approached him from behind and allegedly threatened him with a black folding pocketknife, according to a police press release. The man allegedly demanded the teen’s cellphone and money, which the boy handed over. The man then headed south on the bike path.
The teen was not injured. He went to his friend’s house and reported the robbery to police. Officers assigned to investigate the robbery tracked the teen’s cellphone to the area of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road at around 3:25 a.m. but were unable to find the man or the device.
About 30 minutes later, police located a man with a knife on a bicycle in the 4200 block of El Camino Real. He was allegedly found with methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia. The person and weapon matched the teen’s description.
The man, a 34-year-old Mountain View resident, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and possession of methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia. Police are investigating the connection between this robbery and two earlier incidents in the same area: A robbery on Friday afternoon, during which a 16-year-old girl’s cellphone and debit card was stolen, and an attempted robbery early Sunday morning, during which a man in his 60s was threatened by a man who demanded for money.
Palo Alto police ask that anyone with information about Monday’s robbery call their 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Tips can also be made anonymously by text or voicemail to 650-383-8984 or by email to paloalto@tipnow.org.
Editor’s note: Palo Alto Online’s policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the district attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. Read our guidelines.
