A rash of armed robberies in Palo Alto since September has prompted a community meeting this week.

Twenty robberies have been reported in the city since Sept. 20, many of them stickups of people outside their homes or of pedestrians on the street.

In one recent case, a woman was robbed at gunpoint Jan. 8 in the driveway of her home on St. Francis Drive, near Oregon Expressway. After demanding her purse, the robber fled on foot.

Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns will be among those at the meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Cubberley Community Center Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road. The event was spurred in part by requests from the Midtown Residents Association, Palo Alto police Lt. Sandra Brown said.

Eight people have been arrested in connection with the past months’ robberies and six of the cases are considered solved, according to police.

An East Palo Alto man was arrested Jan. 5 as a suspect in two of the cases and is being investigated in connection with a third. Villivuni Fono, 21, allegedly was involved in robberies Oct. 27 on the 500 block of Fulton Street and Nov. 5 on the 500 block of Forest Avenue. In both cases, the victims were accosted by a pair of armed men on the street; one handed over his messenger bag and the other, who was hit on the head, surrendered his wallet.

A reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects in the remaining cases.

Anyone with information regarding the robberies is asked to call Palo Alto police at 650-329-2190 or provide a tip to paloalto@tipnow.org.