Three men forced their way into to the home of a Palo Alto couple in their 80s and robbed them at gunpoint on Thursday morning, Jan. 23, police said.
The men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, struck at the 400 block of Palo Alto Avenue near Waverley Street after knocking on the door, according to police.
The female resident opened the door and was immediately confronted by three men she did not recognize. The robbers forced their way into the home and made the two victims lie face down on the floor. The men took wallets, cash, miscellaneous personal property and an unloaded handgun from the home. Neither victim was injured.
The victims last saw the men flee in a vehicle headed eastbound on Palo Alto Avenue. Officers responding to a 9-1-1 call at 10:42 a.m. immediately searched the area, but they were unable to find any suspects, police said.
The robbers are described as black men in their twenties. All wore dark, hooded sweatshirts with the hoods over their heads. One man had a small black handgun. The suspect vehicle is a newer, large “boxy-looking” beige or white four-door sedan.
The victims may be able to meet with a police sketch artist; if any sketches are produced, they will be released, police said. Detectives are actively working on the investigation.
There have been no similar crimes recently in Palo Alto, police said.
Anyone who may have information about the case is asked to call the Palo Alto Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or by text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.
I wonder if it’s these same three guys? Sounds like a similar description:
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_24760598/los-altos-hills-sheriffs-office-seeking-home-burglars
gues what ,whole foods market told lies about person a store clerk had to be restrained ,but police report had lies about person store clerk assaulted. that clerk still works there. when you heard about the lies that whole foods store clerk said you just wanted to hear something happen that would counterbalance the unbelieveable lies that people of privilige can get away with. but no, nothing inthe ”news ” would counterblance that it would have to be something mind boggling and local to assuague your fear.well, tis event is just the thing that counterbalances and brings karma to palo alto. this is it. this incident is univeses response to lies you allow whole foods to tell. because im racially diverse you can target me?. this incident is consciosness reflecting your palo alto racist against multinational people multicultural people namely me. that ”robbery” is universes karma response. you hate me, so universe sent those people to show you what kind of people you are. no coincidence that when you find out about blatant lie from whole foods you thought you were trult alone in the universe and everyone hates me. so maybe those robbers reflect ”natural karma consciousness”. now youre very afraid…just like me! what goes around comes around…shame on whole foods!
Please hire an editor or proofreader who understands the difference between ‘lie’ and ‘lay’, understands that music does not soothe the savage ‘beast’, that home is not where the ‘heart’ is. While you’re at it, have everyone look up the meaning of the phrase, “begs the question.” It is almost always used incorrectly.
so that took place ethe morning i had to go to court and was terrified of injustice. robbery took place while i was hearing about lies of whole foods worker who was ”black” harassing mixed person. instant karma gonna get you. you harass old hippies you get karma. black or white, you harass mixed ,you get karma. my mom was jewish by the way,she knew fred termans wife,my mom was highly educated but i found her naked dead in a bathtub when i was a kid. and you wanna harass me? she didnt reach the age of fifty. maybe she knew what could happen to a mixed race person from a time when there were NO mixed people. monkey face is what they called you. you think i got issues cause im telling the btruth? well, those robbers are precisely the fear you are putting on me.
Nick – their MO seems pretty different, and so is the area. PA Ave is densely populated, houses close together, compared to LAH. I do hope it’s the same trio, as this video would be great evidence. Maybe the police will read this and the victims can review it, or once sketches are done, they can compare?
since its okay to ”fuck” to a mixed person and get away with it, i will say ”fuck” paloaltoonline and don kazak knows i rarely even speak to people. so fuck you online nazis you are raist terrorists .IMO.
so FUCK YOU online editors you nazi skkkumbags.
FUCK PALOONLINE
fucfk you child molesting editors. you support child porn cops who were officers.how many more cops are into child porn??? they get away with that. so get out of our country white man you are evil.
white man evil cuasing all races to hate each other and abuse each other, you deserve these words fucking racist white editors provoking racism with your constant police reports and ”crime” fuck you nazi skkkkumbag thats why kazak left you. yoiu racistg nazi skkkkkkumbagz.
white man evil cuasing all races to hate each other and abuse each other, you deserve these words fucking racist white editors provoking racism with your constant police reports and ”crime” fuck you nazi skkkkumbag thats why kazak left you. yoiu racistg nazi skkkkkkumbagz.
“Vibrancy” at its best
The Great Wall of Palo Alto!
Member: are you sure about lay vs. lie? You inspired me to google the topic. The past tense of lie is lay. So, since the sentence is “….made [them] lay.” I think that’s correct. The sentence is about the past. It describes events in the past. Made is the past tense of make. If what I read is correct, then “I make you lie…” and “I made you lay…”
Here is a good article on the topic
http://web.ku.edu/~edit/lie.html
Sometimes I wonder. Breaking news story where some individual has an interest in curtailing discussion immediately? No quicker way to get a thread locked than multiple posts of ranting and profanity.
I’m sure this robbery has the full attention of law enforcement. Maybe those new license plate readers will prove their worth. Why was this particular residence targeted, simple bad luck, or something we can learn from?
Ronnie, lie and lay are commonly misused words. The past tense of lie is indeed lay. But when you force someone to lie down, that’s in the present. The event was in the past, but the verb tense is not.
Chickens lay eggs; people lie down.
Confused? I’ll bet. Just remember the prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep.” It’s old, it’s cool, it’s wrong.
Or Bob Dylan: “Lay lady lay…” Great song. But wrong.
You can take heart if you wish because these language rules are fast disappearing. Soon there will be no grammatical, diction, or usage rights or wrongs.
Further consolation: In Shakespeare’s time, these rules were not nearly so codified or rigid. Read up on Samuel Johnson and successors for more enlightenment.
This story is very distressing. I don’t presume to know the fear and worry that must have been in these poor homeowners hearts. I am thankful they were not harmed.
I don’t suppose any of the neighbors had a video surveillance system in operation, did they? A lot of information can be gotten from even the grainiest and distant footage. Any clues would be good.
it ‘s very disturbing to see and read
television and online reports
of the home invasion robbery of the elderly couple
on palo alto avenue ..
a friend of mine lives near them ..
someone i know
in the lower piedmont area of oakland
has had this happen to her more than once ..
i lived in palo alto during most of the 1970s ..
i ‘m very surprised to hear of this happening ..
usually the east bay tends to have this type of crime ..
Ronnie, Member is correct. The intransitive verb “lie” has practically disappeared from American English. Now, when someone uses it correctly in speech, I thank them. I don’t go around correcting them, however I was going to comment to Sue that she change “lay” to “lie.” A journalist should know the difference. You lay something (direct object) on the table; you lie down (no object). Lay is the past tense of lie: I lay in bed all morning watching TV. Laid is the past tense of lay: I laid the blanket on the bed. Don’t get me started on emigrate and immigrate. I hate when commenters get off on tangents, but your post made me.
Retired teacher: I do not think “now I lay me down to sleep” is incorrect, at least as far as lie and lay are concerned. “me” is the direct object of lay. Technically, it would be “lay myself down,” as the subject and object are the same entity. I’d be happy to work for Palo alto online/weekly as a copy editor. : )
why the discussion of
semantics? .. grammar? .. spelling? ..
when the focus should be
on the elderly couple
who had their home invaded
and their safety and lives put at risk? ..
i hope you academics
do n’t try to correct
the speech and grammar
of perpetrators
if they ever invade your home ..
Chris C, you’re right about the reflexive–I stand corrected. You are clearly qualified to be a copy editor for the Weekly. Just between you and I, and irregardless of the changing grammatical landscape, theres still much work to be done, perhaps starting with it’s and its. But dont spend all the money youll urn in one place.
Carl in Berkeley, maybe we’re just trying to distract ourselves from this unsettling story. And you have a good point about not arguing fine points of grammar and usage with home invaders, who are now armed with an additional handgun, for which they’ve probably been able to find ammunition. Remember to check who’s knocking at your door, although they sound like people who might well kick the door in if you didn’t make entry easy for them.
Meanwhile, let’s thank the good Lord that no one was injured, at least not physically.
This is horrible, and must have been terrifying for the couple. I hope the men are caught, and soon. It’s sad and more than a bit sickening that’s it’s no longer safe to open the front door.
I hope that they catch these thugs and do something to them that will cause them to: A.) Stop taking something that they didn’t work for; B.) Understand that only fools are “thugs;” and, C.) They are an utter shame to their families, friends and the human race.