Police arrest two of three suspects in Safeway armed robbery

Two men suspected of robbing a Safeway store in the Midtown neighborhood of Palo Alto in January have been arrested and one remains at large, police said.

The trio entered the store at 2811 Middlefield Road about 12:40 a.m. Jan. 11. One brandished a handgun and ordered a store employee to the ground near the pharmacy. A second suspect then broke the pharmacy’s glass door and stole an unknown amount of prescription drugs, police said. The third suspect served as a lookout.

The three then ran from the store and left in a pickup truck that was last seen headed east on the Oregon Expressway.

The two suspects arrested were identified after police made surveillance images that resulted in a tip from the public.

Police identified the suspect who pointed the gun as 22-year-old Erik Eulogio Perez, who does not have a permanent known address.

Perez was arrested Feb. 16 while being held at the Kern County Jail after being arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle.

Police identified 18-year-old Anthony Nicolas Alcantara-Medina of East Palo Alto as the suspected lookout in the robbery and he was arrested Feb. 24 by East Palo Alto police at a residence in the 1000 block of Ruth Court.

Alcantara-Medina is in custody at the San Mateo County Main Jail both on the Palo Alto warrant and failure to appear warrant in a robbery and carjacking case in East Palo Alto.

Investigation of the robbery continues, including efforts to determine the identity of the third suspect.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voicemail to (650) 383-8984.

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