MVPD Arrests Three in 'Blind Date' Sting

Three men have been arrested in a Crime Against Person Unit raid in Mountain View and East Palo Alto, law enforcement officials announced Thursday.

According to the Mountain View Police Department, on the morning of Aug. 8, the MVPD's CAP unit led by Detective Kevin Galloway arrested two men on the 50 block of Evandale Avenue and another the 2200 block of Ralmar Avenue in East Palo Alto.  The Mountain View arrested had a connection to a series of armed robberies on the 600 block of Tyrella in May.

A probation search also took place on the 300 block of East O’Keefe Street also in East Palo Alto.

In Mountain View, police apprehended suspect Nazario Cruz and a juvenile and suspect Jose Urias in East Palo Alto without incident.

"We have been working diligently on this case since the original incident in May of this year," said Galloway, the lead investigator. "This case was non-trivial and required us to really strategize how we were going to uncover these suspects who were extremely brazen in their tactics."

The suspects allegedly lured men into a blind date with a supposed female setup on online. She convinced the male victims to bring a considerable amount of cash because she wanted to roll around in it. However, when the men arrived at the designated meeting place, they were robbed by two men one of whom was thought to have a firearm.

"There are three confirmed incidents of this type of robbery occurring here in Mountain View," stated Detective Galloway. "If you or anyone you know has information about these cases, or other people related to them, now is the time to contact us."

Galloway can be reached at 650-903-6150 ext. 6624, or you can send MVPD an anonymous SMS tip to 274637 and include"mvtips" in the body of your text.

The Palo Alto Police Department and Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team provided assistance.