Robbers Follow 7-Eleven Employee, Steal Bank Deposit: Palo Alto Police

PALO ALTO, CA – An employee of an East Palo Alto 7-Eleven store was robbed Monday while driving to make a bank deposit in Palo Alto -- and investigators believe the suspects may have been lying in wait, according to a Palo Alto Police Department news release.

The employee, a woman in her 30s, left the store at 77 Newell Road at 9:40 a.m., said Palo Alto police Sgt. Brian Philip. Less than two minutes later as she reached the 400 block of Newell, her car was rear-ended by another vehicle, he said.

"A black male approached her, apologized for hitting her, and suggested that she take a picture of the damage," Philip said. "She got out of her car with her cellphone, at which point the suspect ripped the phone out of her hand. He then ran back to her car, and stole the bag of bank deposits (containing thousands of dollars of cash) out of the front seat."

The robber then got into the passenger seat of the suspect vehicle, which was seen heading southbound on Newell Road, Philip said.

At 9:42 a.m, a witness called police to report the collision and the robbery. Officers arrived and found the victim to be uninjured, although the crash caused minor damage to her vehicle.

After officers were not able to immediately locate the suspects or their car, they went to the 7-Eleven store to investigate.

Their investigation revealed that the vehicle used in the alleged robbery had arrived at the store at about 8:50 a.m. and that a short time later, the robbery suspect entered the store.

Police believe the suspect and his driver accomplice may have been lying in wait for the victim.

"The vehicle remained in the parking lot until the victim left for the bank at about 9:40 a.m., and then pulled out of the lot as she departed," Philip said.

Police provided surveillance images Wednesday of the primary suspect and the suspects' vehicle.

According to police, the victim described the main suspect as a black man in his 20s who is around 5 feet 10 inches tall and has short, dark hair. He wore khaki pants and a loose white T-shirt with a logo on it. Surveillance footage from inside the store also showed the man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt that had an orange logo on the front and orange drawstrings for the hood.

Police say the victim described the driver of the suspect vehicle as a Pacific Islander man in his 20s who wore a black T-shirt and had long, curly brown hair. He did not exit the car during the incident, according to police.

The suspect vehicle was described as a newer silver four-door sedan, with a yellow paper license plate on the front.

The victim's cellphone was recovered from downtown Palo Alto from a man who said he had found it dumped on University Avenue at Woodland Avenue in East Palo Alto, Philip said. Investigators do not believe the man had any connection to the robbery, the sergeant added.

Detectives are actively investigating the incident and are working collaboratively with their counterparts from the East Palo Alto Police Department to identify the two suspects, Philip said.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.

Photos courtesy Palo Alto Police Department