San Mateo Police have arrested two adults and one juvenile from East Palo Alto today in connection with a series of armed robberies committed this week in San Mateo County.
On Saturday, two suspects brandishing handguns approached a delivery driver as he returned to his vehicle after a delivery. The suspects demanded the driver's money, assaulted the man, and fled on foot after taking his cash and property.
Two days later, a man exiting a vehicle on South Grant Street was approached by two suspects, one who brandished a handgun. The suspects assaulted the man, took his property and cash, and fled on foot.
According to police, detectives had reason to believe that the suspects were responsible for similar crimes in nearby cities, and so San Mateo police formed a task force with East Palo Alto police and the county's gang intelligence unit.
The task force identified three suspects, and detectives obtained search warrants that were served Thursday morning.
Marc Jordan, 23, Melissa Butler, 19, and a 16-year-old boy were taken into custody without incident, police said.
Jordan and Butler were booked into San Mateo County Jail on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy.
The boy was booked into the county's juvenile hall for the same suspected offenses.
Police said that property seized during the searches linked the suspects to Saturday's and Tuesday's robberies as well as a similar robberies in Burlingame and Belmont that both occurred on Wednesday.
In the , employees of a local restaurant were walking to their cars after closing the restaurant for the night when three suspects approached and demanded money. Two of the suspects brandished handguns, and the trio took a purse and laptop from one victim and money from the other, Belmont police said.
The suspects fled south on Civic Lane toward Broadway, Belmont police said.
During Thursday morning's searches, detectives seized a handgun that police said matched the description of the one used in the robberies.
The San Mateo Police Department asks anyone with additional information to contact detectives at (650) 522-7650.
-- Bay City News
