A man on Saturday was assaulted and knocked unconscious during a carjacking in Palo Alto.
The victim, a man in his 50s, was working as a custodian and left his vehicle idling near a Dumpster on the 700 block of Page Mill Road 5:51 a.m. while he went out to empty garbage bags. He noticed a light brown sedan idling in a nearby parking space with a woman inside, Palo Alto police said in a news release.
As the victim was returning to his car, he heard a male voice, then suddenly felt a blow to his shoulder from behind that knocked him out. When he regained consciousness, there was no sight of either his car, a blue 2019 Toyota 4Runner, nor the brown sedan.
Police believe the male assailant and woman may have been working together.
Later that morning, police found the vehicle on fire and unoccupied 40 miles away and across the Bay in Oakland, just west of Jack London Square.
Detectives are investigating the case. No similar cases have recently been reported around Palo Alto.