Crime & Safety

Armed Attempted Robbery Thwarted By Brave Victim With BB Gun

A father grabbed by a suspect with a semi-automatic possibly saved by his son's friend.

A father, son and the son's friend became victims of an attempted robbery on Tuesday night by three men, one of them armed with a semi-automatic gun, police officials reported today.

The suspects fled on foot and are sought by the Mountain View Police Department (MVPD).

According to Liz Wylie, spokeswoman for the MVPD, when the father arrived to his 240 Ortega Ave. apartment at around 10:48 p.m. on Aug. 2, "he heard running and someone coming up behind him."

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As the victim, 43, stepped into his apartment the first suspect, a black male with a shaved head about 5 feet 8 inches tall who carried a small black semi-auto handgun, allegedly grabbed him from behind and put his arm around his neck.

"Like a choke hold," Wylie said.

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The suspect pointed the gun about two inches from the victim's head.

Wylie explained that the victim "instinctively grabbed the barrel of the gun and tried to force it out of the suspect’s hands or tried to point it away from his head."

The victim's son, 15, who was inside the apartment with a friend, "immediately got up from a chair and started walking towards his dad to help him," said Wylie.

Allegedly the suspect then pointed the gun at the son.  Then two more suspects approached the father from behind and began to search him.

At this time, the son's friend–who happen to have had a BB gun in his hand as he sat on the couch–pointed the BB gun at the gun-wielding suspect and "drew the slide back and released it, which made the BB gun sound like he had just loaded a round into the chamber of a real gun," Wylie said.

When the suspects saw the son's friend, 15, point the BB gun at them, they backed out the door.

"The suspects likely believed the gun was real," said Wylie. "All three suspects fled on foot to the rear of the complex."

Wylie added that the father thought the suspects hopped a fence into a backyard on Gabriel Avenue. He told his son to call 9-1-1, which he did.

When the officers arrived they set up an extensive perimeter in the area, but the suspects could not be located. A canine and canine officer from the Palo Alto Police Department assisted in the search.  The canine picked up a scent but lost it along the railroad tracks near Central Expressway and San Antonio Road.

"The [son's friend] did a very brave thing," Wylie said. "We don’t know what might have happened if he had not pointed his BB gun and the suspects, but certainly doing so appears to have scared them off."

However, Wylie cautions people from taking matters into their own hands.

"We do not recommend that people engage violent suspects, especially if the suspect(s) is armed," she said. "But the son's friend calm and thought out action seemed to have ended the crime at that point with nothing being taken. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, either."

The suspects have been described at black males between 18 and 20 years old, and wore all black clothing. One suspected was skinny, another chubby and a third was of medium build.

The MVPD has no other reports of anything similar to this robbery.

They ask the public for help with any information that can lead to an arrest in this case by calling 650-903-6395. Callers can remain anonymous.


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