Elderly victim, Good Samaritan fight off suspects in Palo Alto robbery attempt

PALO ALTO — A man in his 80s and a Good Samaritan were able to fight off a robbery attempt in a Palo Alto parking lot earlier this week.

Palo Alto police said the brazen attempt took place in the parking lot of the Charleston Shopping Center in the 3900 block of Middlefield Road at 1:14 p.m. on Wednesday.

Officers responded to a 911 call and when they arrived the suspects had fled the area and remain at large.

According to investigators, a woman had approached a man in his 80s as he sat in his vehicle, told him it was her birthday and that she wanted to give him a gift.

The suspect then reached into the victim’s vehicle and tried to remove the victim’s watch from his wrist.

The victim fought back and yelled for help. A witness, identified as a man in his 40s, saw the struggle and went to intervene.

The suspect then got into the backseat of a nearby vehicle driven by a man, and as the witness tried to take a picture of the vehicle’s license plate, the male suspect backed the car directly at the witness, who had to step out of the way of the vehicle to avoid being struck.

The suspects then fled the area south on Middlefield Road. There were no reported injuries, and the suspects were not able to steal any property from the victim.

Police described the suspects as being between the ages of 25 and 35 years old and possibly of Middle Eastern heritage. The woman was wearing a long black skirt and a white top, and the man was wearing a black shirt and had a full beard and mustache, police said.

 The vehicle is described as a newer model black Jeep Cherokee with a tinted cover over the rear license plate.