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A man and his wife pulling out a driveway in the 200 block of Tennyson Avenue in Palo Alto around 7 p.m. Saturday saw something unusual.
Three people, two young men who looked Hispanic and “an older Asian gentleman,” were on the sidewalk next to the driveway but the older man was stepping backwards.
“My wife saw him attacked,” the driver of the car said.
The two young men then ran east on Tennyson and the driver of the car started to follow them, catching up with the two running men.
When the car came abreast of the two running men, one stopped and pointed a gun at the driver and his wife, and the driver accelerated quickly past Bryant Street into the next block.
The two young men raced away on foot, south on Bryant Street.
The driver then backed his car up and pointed it south on Bryant Street, trying to see where the two young men had gone but didn’t want to follow any further.
“They could have been hiding behind a bush,” he said.
The two young men had attempted to rob the older Asian man who had just gotten out of his car on his way to visit his niece’s family.
“Give me your wallet,” one of the young men had instructed the victim. When the victim didn’t comply, the young man showed him a gun and said, “Give me your wallet or I’ll shoot you.”
At that point, the victim saw the car coming out of the driveway and yelled for help. The young man with the gun then struck the victim in his forehead, possibly with the gun, knocking him to the ground, Palo Alto Police Agent Rich Bullerjahn said.
Police searched the surrounding area with the help of a Mountain View Police Department canine unit but failed to find the two young men.
The victim was transported to Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City for treatment of a bruise and laceration to his forehead, Bullerjahn said.
The would-be robbers were described by police as between 16 and 20 years old and either Causasian of light-skinned Hispanics. One was thin and about 5 feet 11 inches or 6 feet tall and wore a dark jacket and dark pants. The second was about 5 feet 6 inches tall and wore a black hooded
sweatshirt.