Three people wanted in connection with an armed robbery at a gas station on Sunday night were located by police with the help of a witness, who followed the trio’s getaway car from south Palo Alto to the north side of town, police said Monday.
The armed robbery at the Arco gas station at 699 San Antonio Road, not far from the city border with Mountain View, was reported around 8:40 PM, according to the press release. Dispatchers were told a man entered the gas station’s store, aimed a handgun at the cashier and demanded money.
A witness who went inside the gas station store moments after the robbery learned about the theft and quickly left in search of the trio. She located a vehicle that matched the provided getaway car description leaving the gas station and called 911, the press release states.
She followed the trio while giving updates to dispatchers on their location, according to police. Officers stopped the getaway vehicle in the area of Alma Street and Palo Alto Avenue, not far from El Camino Park, and arrested three adults without incident.
The three alleged robbers were found with stolen cash in the car, plus drugs and drug paraphernalia in one of their bags. Officers also retrieved an unsecured handgun that was loaded and within reaching distance of an elementary school-aged child who was sitting next to a teenager, according to the press release. The firearm, stolen out of Salinas, was on the vehicle’s rear floorboard… Palo Alto Online