Palo Alto Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred after midnight Wednesday at a Taco Bell restaurant. The victim was not physically injured. The suspect is unknown and at large.
On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, at about 12:46 a.m., the Palo Alto 24-hour dispatch center received a call reporting an armed robbery that had occurred about 15 minutes earlier at the Taco Bell restaurant at 910 East Charleston Road.
The investigation revealed that the victim employee, a man in his twenties, was alone inside the restaurant and about to close up for the night at about 12:30 a.m. when the suspect entered and confronted him with a handgun, demanding money from the registers. The victim complied. The suspect then demanded any additional money in the store, and the victim said he would get more from the back. The victim walked towards the rear of the restaurant, but then ran out of the back door to safety. The victim watched the suspect get into a dark sedan and drove off on San Antonio Road towards U.S. Highway 101. The victim then called his supervisor, who in turn notified the police.
The victim described the suspect as a male in his late teens or early twenties, either white or Hispanic, wearing a ski mask. The victim said the suspect spoke to him in English. There are no surveillance images available for release.
Detectives are actively investigating this incident. There have been no similar armed robberies of restaurants reported to police in Palo Alto recently.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
