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A mother pushing her infant son in a stroller near the bus stop on the south side of West Las Positas Boulevard west of Santa Rita Road was attacked by two men about 6:20 p.m. Wednesday who grabbed her purse and tried also to seize her child.
Pleasanton police watch commander Lt. Brian Laurence said the attack occurred as the woman walked behind a sound wall into the Las Positas Garden Townhomes while being followed by two unknown black male suspects.
Without warning, one of the men pushed the mother to the ground and grabbed her purse from her shoulder. As she fell, the second man also grabbed the stroller and pushed it through the town house complex towards Santa Rita Road. After a short distance he lost control of the stroller and it tipped over. He then attempted to pull the infant from the stroller but was unsuccessful.
Both suspects then fled eastbound through the complex towards Santa Rita with the mother’s purse. Neither she nor her infant was injured.
Laurence said the mother described her attackers as being both black males and both from 18-25 years old. Both are described as clean shaven with a medium builds and both were wearing black baseball caps, black hooded sweatshirts and black pants. One man is describer as being approximately 6 feet tall, while the other is approximately 5’8″ to 5’9″ tall.
Anyone with information that would assist in the investigation of this crime is encouraged to contact the Pleasanton Police Department at (925) 931-5100.
PUSD board endorses initial layoff plan totaling over $5 million in budget cutsFebruary 25, 2026 7:02 am
Here they come and it’s only going to get worse with all the low income housing coming!
Something about this story doesn’t make any sense.
Almost all of the recent crimes (holdup robberies of Taco Bell, NY Pizza) and crimes against people are by black males. There’s the old stereotype of “racist” white people crossing the street to avoid walking by a black male – or leaving a business if they see any black males there – it just seems like good advice for Pleasanton.
I hope they charge these thugs for attempted manslaughter – tipping over a stroller could seriously harm or kill an infant. If I were a woman in the position of having to walk alone in Pleasanton – I would carry a pistol illegally since Alameda County Sheriff won’t allow law-abiding folks to defend themselves with concealed carry.
?? wrote “Something about this story doesn’t make any sense.”
Like the fact that this all happened in (1) broad daylight next to (2) a busy intersection and the suspects didn’t just want money but wanted to (3) kidnap an infant??? And then (4) they tried to make a quick getaway by running while pushing a stroller with an infant in it?
If this is all true they must be two of the most incompetent robbers/kidnappers in Pleasanton history and there must be a lot of witnesses to the incident among drivers traveling along West Las Positas and/or Santa Rita. I know that I would take notice if I were driving along Santa Rita and saw two black men frantically running alongside it while pushing a baby stroller. Shouldn’t take the Pleasanton police too long to find out what went on here.
I agree that something does not sound right about this story. Is it a purse snatching or a kidnapping? But both? I don’t think so. However we are in for a change in Pleasanton. I have lived here for 25 years and the town is changing to the worse with BART that has more people coming into the town than going out, figure that out and the low income housing our “don’t have to lock your doors at night town” will soon be a “you had better put bars up on your windows town” Won’t be long before you will be reading about a homeowner shooting a armed robber or vice “a” versa.
This behavior could be explained by the effects of drugs on an already compromised brain. Who ever said criminals were smart anyway? They need money for drugs, are panicked and paranoid, and are not man enough to choose a victim who might fight back.
To those commenters on this thread and others who correlate BART’s presence with a perceived increase in crime, how do you explain crime statistics not rising in upscale communities Orinda, Lafayette, and Walnut Creek? The quality of life in those communities has not decreased, in fact, due to easy access to alternative transportation, I would venture to guess, QOL has increased since traffic impact is less than without BART.
I shake my head when I hear commenters opining that the criminal element would spend $10-15 to ride BART to Pleasanton, then walk to nearby neighborhoods and businesses to commit crimes. Frankly it would be easier to drive, access and escape would be much faster and there is no video record of the perp riding the train.
Re Sam’s post – I think this happened behind that tall wall that encloses the townhome dev across from the hospital. I just read in the Times the other day, in the article on robbery rates in Oakland, that prime targets are Latina women pushing strollers. I don’t know that this woman was Latina – but isn’t it incredible that vulnerable women with their babies have become the target of these cowards? I guess attacking women is easier and more self-esteem building than a job at landscaping, Walmart, Taco Bell or whatever.
It is very hard not to profile folks these days, and it isn’t only the males.
We need more police officers! Time for a small parcel tax to benefit us all?
Rose, rather than spending everyone else’s money on another tax, use that money to purchase a self defense device (gun, mace, pepper spray) Heck, for these simians, maybe a job application might be a deterrent.
Although more cops might be welcome, it still won’t provide the same response time as you drawing down on this perps and executing swift justice.
Just the fact that the story starts with two black males being in Pleasanton is enough to cast suspicion on the entire story.
Rose wrote: “I just read in the Times the other day, in the article on robbery rates in Oakland, that prime targets are Latina women pushing strollers. I don’t know that this woman was Latina – but isn’t it incredible that vulnerable women with their babies have become the target of these cowards?”
Yes, Rose, I’m not too surprised that women pushing strollers might be the target of robbers. But I don’t think that even in the toughest, roughest parts of Oakland that the robbers are also running away from the scene of the crime in broad daylight pushing baby strollers in a baby kidnapping attempt as well. This whole incident is just strange.
I’m amazed at all the race st comments. I thought Pleasanton was supposed to be a town full of educated nice people? Oh well, right wing Nita will always exist
More cops are needed or they need to bring more out of cubicles and place them on patrol. Our town now has more people, more modes of transport and ways in and out of town. This, along with what I believe, is an acute drug problem in the community, causes problems. I hope the Council will take a look at the public safety issues now facing Pleasanton. I for one can do without fancy community ammenities for awhile in order to maintain the peace, tranquility and infarastructure of our town. Public Safety is paramount to a community and all what is now occurring needs to be controlled better.
This sounds like a fake story and I’m sure the police are doing their best to determine the truth. A potential child kidnapping would be receiving widespread news and there’s no mention of it beyond a very local level.
To increase the number of officers pursuing criminals of this sort, I would like to volunteer the time spent by the officer who regularly cruises our neighborhood. While it is nice to wave to him as he drives by, the likelyhood of him being present at the instant when a crime is taking place is quite small. Take him out of the cruiser and put him on a bicycle in areas of Pleasanton that have crime problems.
Thanks BART. BTW, ain’t “diversity” great?