A 20-year-old Newark man and 17-year-old East Palo Alto juvenile were arrested in downtown Palo Alto on June 5 for allegedly robbing a cyclist of her purse. Police also suspect the pair committed a vehicle theft the day before.
Devante Andre Hunt and an unnamed juvenile allegedly ran up behind a woman in her 60s, who had been riding her bicycle at the time, and grabbed her purse. After a brief struggle, the pair fled on foot north in the 300 block of Bryant Street, at about 12:15 a.m.
An officer on routine patrol was flagged down by the woman, who provided a description of the suspects. Another officer located them a short time later at a parking lot in the 400 block of Kipling Street. Police found the woman’s cellphone and money on the man and teen, as well as a birthday card with a personal check in it.
The day before, at about 10:20 a.m., a man in his 30s called the police about a vehicle theft at a residence in the 300 block of Oxford Avenue. He believed that his car key had accidentally fallen onto his driveway while he was unloading items from his car, a blue and silver 2008 Mercedes C300. He reported that one of the items in his car was a birthday card with a check made out to him. He also discovered that he had left his credit card, which was fraudulently used at several locations around the Bay Area with a total loss of less than 100 dollars.
The officers connected the two cases based on the information and interviewed Hunt and the teenager who allegedly drove the car to Oakland and abandoned it there. The Oakland Police Department recovered the vehicle on Friday. Police are continuing their investigation to determine if the pair was responsible for the credit card charges.
Hunt and the 17-year-old were arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime and vehicle theft. Hunt was booked at the Santa Clara County Main Jail. The teen was transported to the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.
Very glad the victim was not injured in this attack.