Four teenage boys from Oakland were arrested after allegedly robbing a woman and trying to steal her vehicle at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto on Monday evening, according to police.
The robbery was reported around 6 p.m. Monday at the shopping center off El Camino Real and officers learned that a woman in her 50s had been sitting in her parked car when someone opened her passenger door and demanded her purse and keys, police said.
A second suspect then opened the driver's side door and demanded the woman's purse. After handing over her belongings, she was able to flee on foot, but moments later returned with someone else to see four suspects in the car but unable to start it, according to police.
The four suspects then fled on foot toward El Camino Real and a police sergeant in the area spotted and detained them at the downtown train station. The victim's stolen property was with one of the four suspects, described as three 16-year-old boys and one 14-year-old boy.
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All four were booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of robbery, attempted carjacking and conspiracy, police said. Their names are not being released because they are minors.
