Two men charged in January robbery at tobacco store

Two men were charged on Tuesday for their participation in an armed robbery of a Palo Alto tobacco store in January.

Michael Earle, 18, of Menlo Park, and Andrew Maravilla-Lopez, 19, of Hayward, had already been arrested for other armed robberies by the San Jose Police Department in April.

On Jan. 13 at 9:54 p.m., Palo Alto police received a call from a clerk at Raw Smoke Shop at 265 California Ave. The clerk reported being pistol-whipped and robbed by a group of eight people who had fled the scene, according to police. The employee was left with minor injuries and declined medical attention.

While investigating, detectives soon discovered that Earle and Maravilla-Lopez had allegedly been involved in other armed robberies throughout the Bay Area, and the San Jose Police Department eventually arrested them and four other people on April 14.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed one felony charge of robbery against each of the two men, and a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge signed warrants for their arrests.

On Tuesday, police served the warrants while both men were still in custody at the Elmwood Correctional Facility from their April 14 arrests.

The investigation into the remaining six outstanding suspects in the tobacco store robbery is ongoing. Police said they do not have evidence connecting any of the other people arrested by the San Jose Police Department on April 14 to the Palo Alto crime.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voicemail to 650-383-8984.