Palo Alto police are looking for a woman suspected of trying to rob an elderly woman of her jewelry Saturday.

Police say that an elderly victim in her 80s was using a walker near Channing Avenue and Middlefield Road around 4pm May 14. when a large, black, four-door sedan pulled up next to her and a female passenger asked her for directions.

The passenger then got out of the car and told the woman that she reminded her of her mother and asked if she could give her a piece of her mother's jewelry. The suspect took the woman's hand off the walker she had been using and slipped a bracelet onto the victim's wrist, police said.

The suspect then tried to remove the victim's wedding ring, but it would not budge. According to police, the suspect pulled hard but the ring stayed on the woman's finger. The suspect then jumped back into the car and the vehicle took off eastbound on Channing at a high speed.

The elderly woman, who did not have a cellphone, continued her walk home and a family member called the authorities. The victim was bruised as a result of the attempted strong-arm robbery, police said.

The victim described the suspect as a woman of unknown race and age, about 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with a medium complexion and dark black hair in a bun. The man driving the car was described as having dark hair and a dark mustache.

Police say that there have not been any similar crimes reported since an unsolved case from October 2021, when an elderly female victim had two necklace's torn off her neck. Detectives are investigating to see if there is any connection between the two cases or similar crimes in other cities, police said.

Anyone with information about this crime or others like it is asked to call the Palo Alto Police 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to

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