PALO ALTO — Police arrested a 23-year-old man Friday afternoon after he robbed an open bicycle shop of cash. No one was injured.
On Friday, August 5, 2022, at about 2:43 p.m., the Palo Alto dispatch center received a call reporting an in-progress robbery at the Cardinal Bike Shop at 1955 El Camino Real. Officers arrived on scene within three minutes and detained the suspect without incident as he was just about to drive away in his vehicle (a gray 2009 Lexus ES-350).
The investigation revealed that the suspect had entered the business wanting to sell a used electric bicycle. When staff refused to buy it, the suspect reached into his backpack, feigned as though he had a weapon in it, made verbal threats of violence, and demanded cash from the employee (a male in his forties). Fearing for his life, the employee gave the suspect cash from the register. The suspect left the store, leaving the bicycle behind.
Police booked 23-year-old Michael Lindstrom-Spence of Healdsburg into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for robbery and criminal threats (both felonies). Police did not locate any weapons in the suspect’s possession or in his vehicle.
