A Shell station on Embarcadero Road was robbed Tuesday morning by a hooded man who police said wore a handkerchief mask and wielded a handgun.
The robbery occurred shortly after 11 a.m. at the gas station at 1161 Embarcadero Road, near the entrance to Highway 101. Palo Alto police said the man drove into the gas station and walked into the clerk's booth. He pointed a gun at the three employees in the booth – a man and two women – and demanded money from the cash register, police said.
After they complied, he returned to his vehicle – described as a gray Acura MDX sports-utility vehicle – and drove east on Embarcadero Road. He was last seen entering the on-ramp of southbound Highway 101.
There were no customers at the station at the time of the robbery, according to the police. No one was hurt.
The suspect was described as a black male, about 6 feet tall with a thin build. He wore a black sweatshirt with a hood over head, dark pants and a white handkerchief over his face. Because his face was obscured, the victims couldn't estimate his age. They described his gun as a gray semi-automatic pistol.
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the Palo Alto police at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.
Comments
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:27 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:27 pm
This does not bode well for the safety of the new Edgewood Plaza Fresh market and any other stores that may want to open here. If a gas station can be robbed at gunpoint at 11.00 am, in what is the parking lot of the Market, who on earth will want to spend time shopping here?
Southgate
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:54 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Was his license plate covered up?
Community Center
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:55 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Let's not over dramatize this event or try to inject scare tactics. Since events like this and worse can happen any place, any time, they cannot be taken too seriously if one wants to live a normal life.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:52 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:52 pm
I agree, @ Not an Issue, it's odd to see how a certain poster always leaps to criticize Duveneck/St. Francis on this forum. It's a great neighborhood and location. I find the Fresh Market to be very nice. Turns out there are lots of them elsewhere in the U.S. - I just had a visitor here from the Midwest who said they have it in his upscale suburb. The rest of the shopping center renewal is now going along well. I can't wait to see who the other tenants will be! I don't buy my gas at the gas station there because like many prominent gas stations at entrances to highways, it's higher-priced.
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:53 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:53 pm
This has happened many times in the last 12 years! I do not go there anymore because they were robbed when I was filling up several years ago, after dark.
[Portion removed.]
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:56 pm
on Jul 2, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Midtown Palo Alto experienced a similar hold-up at the 7-11 recently.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 2, 2013 at 6:21 pm
Registered user
on Jul 2, 2013 at 6:21 pm
Gas station guys, keep the door closed!
Green Acres
on Jul 3, 2013 at 5:10 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 5:10 am
Number one...I assume the robber didn't have a squirt gun..glad the attendants were not harmed. Number two...what an idiot to take only chump change from a gas station in the first place, he will be facing at LEAST 10 years in prison for his moments of terror~ If and when they track him down or someone snitches him off ( I hope..)
Barron Park
on Jul 3, 2013 at 7:25 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 7:25 am
I'm surprised the robber was able to get back on 101 so quickly. Usually when I'm at that Shell, the westbound traffic is too difficult to time right, so I just turn right and do a couple of U-turns to get back in that other direction. Most of the time, you would probably get T-boned.
Crescent Park
on Jul 3, 2013 at 8:44 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 8:44 am
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
Palo Verde
on Jul 3, 2013 at 8:49 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 8:49 am
Excuse me, being held up at gunpoint at eleven in the morning is not supposed to be a "normal risk of everyday life" in Palo Alto. It's not like they got hit by a meteor.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:18 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:18 am
Here's what someone who knows the gas station well had to say:
"Ahmed Faiyez, the manager of the station, told the Post yesterday that to his knowledge the station had never been robbed before in the daylight.
"It's a very safe place," he said. "I can't believe it."
The Daily Post, July 3, 2013, p. 16
Charleston Gardens
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:23 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:23 am
Same description from a robbery in Mountain View. Whoever this robbing scum is, I hope someone gets him soon. I'm sure that he will go to jail for a few days then be back out on the streets robbing and terrifying people once again.
South of Midtown
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:28 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:28 am
fear your censors and your government. they have authority to hold you, robbers do not.
College Terrace
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:44 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:44 am
This story does not surprise me; my wallet was stolen there several years ago and when I reported the incident I was told by PAPD that that area was a known crime spot.
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:47 am
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:47 am
I go to this gas station every week during day time, even with my young kid sometimes. I'm not dare to go at night already since long time ago(maybe 3 -4 years ago). It's ridiculous. Robbers are fearless now.....
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 3, 2013 at 12:29 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Get a grip folks!! Did anyone stop going to the Safeway or Starbucks after the 7-11 was robbed? After all, they are close by. And the liquor store on Middlefield was robbed not long ago. People are robbed downtown and in the nearby neighborhoods from time to time. Time to write to Jerry Brown and the state legislators and tell them you are opposed to releasing inmates from prison.
Crescent Park
on Jul 3, 2013 at 12:42 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 12:42 pm
> Answer: Anyone who does not have an idiotic misapprehension
> of how to deal with the normal risks of everyday life.
I really resent how Palo Alto Online lets directed insults like this stand. Saying that a particular poster has an "idiotic misapprehension" is publicly insulting that particular person and should be deleted.
It tends to support the misperception that this is or should be the public's value system ... when almost all arguments of this sort are backed by interests that profit from an unsafe environment, be it in public spaces or in the workplace ...
We all should have enough experience to understand that our society and our economy move forward by reducing risks at all levels for all people.
A statement like this basically promotes a social value system where those who can afford to live in gated communities and do not have to spend a lot of time in the public environment denigrate and ignore the whole idea of the public environment ... which is the NORM not the exception in our country.
These are essentially "fighting-words" of the continual class war that we have been fighting and wasting time and resources on our whole history.
Old Palo Alto
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:04 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:04 pm
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:25 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I have shopped at the new Fresh Market several times and think it is great. This unfortunate robbery won't deter me at all.
Barron Park
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:28 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Citizen, much more than a few of these guys come from the east bay. I'll meet you at the 92 and Dumbarton bridges for the tear down then its of to build the great 237 wall. Or...maybe we don't live in fear. Yes. I choose the latter. We'll save the 92 and Dumbo and build our infrastructure for the future with the new bike/ped bridges.
Ahhh. I feel better already.
Midtown
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:42 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 2:42 pm
Robberies have not happened ther in the daytime. Enforce, but there have been several at night there in the last twenty years. The location near a freeway makes it perfect for a robber seeking an easy and quick getaway.
East Palo Alto
on Jul 3, 2013 at 4:33 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 4:33 pm
We avoid that gas station due to how annoying most of the customers are & how high the cost of gas is. OTOH, we love The Fresh Market & the parking is close enough to be safe, so we'll continue to patronize.
Gas up before the weekend - gas prices will be increasing!
Crescent Park
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:32 pm
on Jul 3, 2013 at 11:32 pm
I'm thinking most of these places that get robbed need to start investing in some better security cameras ... and start scanning outside their stores for people walking up with masks.
University South
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:57 am
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:57 am
Been there says, "Robberies have not happened ther[e] in the daytime."
The article says the robbery was at 11 am. That's the daytime, just before lunch.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 4, 2013 at 11:10 am
on Jul 4, 2013 at 11:10 am
The recent remodeling of the gas station left the two huge signs
on Embarcadero, the bright yellow canopy which seriously detracts
from Edgewood Plaza and the residential neighborhood at this gateway
to Palo Alto, yet did not provide a secure cashier window as seen
at many stations. As far as the design review the City apparently
did not choose to get involved.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 4, 2013 at 11:58 am
on Jul 4, 2013 at 11:58 am
Actually the original cashier window is still there but not used.
It looks like the cashier booth was left as is.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:38 pm
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:38 pm
This should indeed be cause for alarm. This is not New York City, or Oakland, or San Francisco. It is Palo Alto, nominally a well-off suburban-style community.
I go to that station often too. And I'm often accosted by a person wanting to "just ask me a question." Then I see him playing the same shtick to every patron there, with no action from the management.
I see a lot of semi-scary stuff there. I say "semi" because it's not enough to have me stop going there, given the convenience.
I think that's the problem. We all see the issues, but keep going there because there are not many other convenient options. We need to insist that the management better manage safety there.
From this station's management perspective, the rare robbery is small cost relative to establishing management systems to secure safety. We need to let them know that that will no longer be the case. Make it safer and less "scary", or we will go elsewhere for gas.
What do you all think?
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:52 pm
on Jul 4, 2013 at 9:52 pm
The work done about six months ago involved mainly replacement
of the tanks.