Police seek Palo Alto purse snatcher

A man stole a woman’s purse in a parking garage Saturday evening in Palo Alto and remains at large, police said.

On Saturday at about 6:21 p.m., police received a call from the victim, a woman in her 40s, who said she had been robbed at the Stanford Shopping Center.

According to police, the victim was walking alone on the first floor of the south parking garage to her parked car.

Another vehicle then pulled up beside her and a man exited the front passenger seat. The man grabbed the woman’s purse off her shoulder and got back into the vehicle, which then exited the garage, heading south toward Quarry Road, police said.

The victim was not physically injured. The purse contained the victim’s wallet, but not her cellphone, police said.

The victim described the suspect as a Hispanic man in his 20s or 30s. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled around his face, and dark pants. He was not armed with a weapon, according to police.

The victim said two men and a woman were also inside the suspect vehicle, all described as being in their 20s or 30s.

The victim described the suspect vehicle as a small, black coupe or sedan. However, a witness described the vehicle as a black sport utility vehicle, police said.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call the Palo Alto Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.

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