Police investigating strong-arm robbery at Stanford Shopping Center

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HORIZONTAL - The Palo Alto Police Department logo on the door a police car in Palo Alto, Calif. on September 9, 2009. (Ananda Paulas/Bay City News)

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Palo Alto police are investigating a strong-arm robbery that happened at the Stanford Shopping Center Tuesday. A suspect and an accomplice are at large.

Police said dispatch received a call about an incident at the shopping center's Nordstrom store on 180 El Camino Real at around 4:55 p.m. The victim, a woman in her twenties, said the incident happened about 10 minutes before the call and that she recognized the suspect as someone with whom she shares an acquaintance. She told police the suspect had fled in a vehicle.

Police issued a release about their preliminary investigation. The victim said she purchased around $2,500 worth of merchandise at Nordstrom and was then verbally accosted by a woman and a female accomplice inside the store. The suspect grabbed the victim's bags, including her purchases, and ran outside the store. The victim chased after the two women and said she last saw them in a car traveling eastbound on Sand Hill Road towards El Camino Real. The woman said the primary suspect, the woman she recognized, was the passenger in the car.

The victim described both the suspect and the accomplice as women in their twenties. The primary suspect is said to be 5'1" and around 140 pounds. She was weaning a black tank top, black jeans and sandals. The accomplice was wearing an orange shirt, black jacket, blue jeans and a white surgical mask.

The suspect vehicle is described as a newer gray 4-door Toyota Camry. Police said there were no weapons involved in this incident.