A 39-year-old San Jose man was arrested Monday afternoon after attacking a man during a robbery and stealing the hat off his head, according to Palo Alto police.
Police received a call at about 3:20 p.m. Monday reporting two men fighting on the 300 block of University Avenue, according to a Palo Alto police news release sent Wednesday morning. Officers located the victim, a man in his 30s who said he was attacked by another man during the robbery.
The investigation found that, around 3:25 p.m., the victim was standing outside a CVS store at 352 University Avenue when an unknown man approached him and demanded the victim’s money and cell phone. When the victim refused, the suspect snatched the victim’s hat off his head and ran into the store, police said.
The victim caught up to the suspect near the back door to get his hat back, but the suspect then punched and kicked the victim several times in the face. As the victim tried to fight off the suspect, the latter took a knife from a sheath on the victim’s belt and slashed at the victim with it, police said. The victim backed off and the suspect ran through the store toward University Avenue.
Palo Alto Fire Department personnel treated the minor injuries on the victim’s face at the scene. The suspect was found by officers around the Downtown Transit Center and detained him near the intersection of El Camino Real and Quarry Road.
The man was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. His bail is set at $76,000. He was scheduled to make two court appearances on Wednesday afternoon.