Delivery Truck Robbed of $30,000 in Cigarettes

<p><strong>PALO ALTO<&sol;strong> – Police are investigating a robbery that occurred yesterday morning where three suspects stole about &dollar;30&comma;000 in cigarettes from a semi-trailer truck making a delivery&period; No one was physically injured&period; The suspects are unknown and at large&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On Thursday&comma; May 23&comma; 2024&comma; at about 7&colon;38 a&period;m&period;&comma; the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center received an alarm coming from the Palo Alto Shell at 2200 El Camino Real&period; When officers arrived on scene&comma; they learned that an employee of a delivery company had activated the alarm because there had just been a robbery&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The investigation revealed that the two victims&comma; a man in his fifties and a man in his forties&comma; had been working in tandem on a 53-foot semi-trailer truck making deliveries&period; When they arrived at the Palo Alto Shell&comma; they made their delivery&period; The younger victim went into the station to get paperwork signed&comma; and the older victim was in the back of the trailer working&period; That victim heard footsteps inside the trailer&comma; and turned around to find two suspects&comma; one of whom reached for a bulge in his waistband and warned him to stay back&period; The victim assumed the suspect may have a weapon&comma; but none was seen or displayed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The two suspects proceeded to cut the wrapping off a pallet and then passed several tote boxes full of cigarettes from the pallet to a third suspect&comma; who remained outside&period; That third suspect dumped the cigarettes out of the tote boxes and into a vehicle&comma; and then all three suspects entered the vehicle and fled westbound on College Avenue&period; The preliminary loss was estimated at &dollar;30&comma;000&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The victims described the suspects as Black males in their twenties&comma; all wearing dark clothing with ski masks covering their faces&period; The victims described the suspect vehicle as a newer sports utility vehicle&period; Detectives are actively investigating this incident&period; No similar crimes have been reported to police recently in Palo Alto&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;