Police are investigating an attempted carjacking of a rideshare driver that occurred Monday after midnight. The victim was not physically injured.
On Monday, April 22, 2024, at about 12:47 a.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a man in his twenties who reported a suspicious circumstance that had just occurred. Upon arrival in the 100 block of University Avenue, officers met with the victim, a rideshare driver.
The victim told police he had been driving his black 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander by himself to pick up a fare in the area of the 800 block of Forest Avenue. He said a suspect vehicle drove up next to him, then suddenly pulled in front of him and stopped. The driver and two passengers, all men, got out and approached his car. The victim was scared and locked himself inside. One man yelled at him to get out of his car. One suspect produced a long metal rod and began striking the victim’s vehicle with it, while another suspect struck the driver’s side door window repeatedly with his hand and tried to pull the door open.
The victim was able to drive around the suspect vehicle and then accelerated away from them. The suspect vehicle gave chase as the victim attempted to get away and lose them. The suspect vehicle eventually turned off, and the victim stopped in the 100 block of University Avenue and called police for help. The victim’s vehicle sustained moderate damage on the driver’s side from being struck multiple times with the metal rod.
As the victim was unfamiliar with the area, he could not tell officers where the incident began, nor the names of the streets he took as he was driving away. Police believe it began in the Crescent Park neighborhood and may have continued into the area of downtown Palo Alto. The victim did know why the suspects targeted him and said he had had no interaction with the suspect vehicle before the incident occurred. Police believe the possible motive was either a robbery of the victim himself, and/or an attempted carjacking of his vehicle.
The victim described the suspects as adult men of unknown age. The victim said the suspect who was pulling on his door handle was a Black male, and the suspect who wielded the metal rod was an unknown race bald male wearing a light-colored shirt. The third suspect was an unknown race male. The victim said the suspects were in an older-model white minivan, possibly a Toyota Sienna or Kia Sedona.
There have been no similar crimes reported to police recently in Palo Alto. Detectives are actively investigating the case.
Anyone with information about this incident, including anyone who may have heard or seen the crime occurring so we can find the exact location of occurrence, is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
