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Guard catches poker rob suspect during chase
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Posted on May 06 2009
An alert security guard chased and caught a man who reportedly had just robbed at knifepoint a poker establishment in Chalan Kanoa early yesterday morning.
The Smile Poker game room was first robbed in April 2007. The same arcade was twice robbed again in the past two months.
Responding police officers in yesterday’s incident placed the suspect under arrest. Patrol officers managed to recover at the scene $121 in cash and the weapon used, a knife.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Eric F. David said the suspect’s identity will be released to the media at a later date pending further investigation.
David said DPS received a call that Smile Poker had been robbed yesterday at 4:45am.
Preliminary investigation showed that a male suspect, wearing a brown fisherman’s hat and a white piece of cloth concealing the bottom portion of his face, entered the poker establishment.
The suspect forcefully demanded money from a female poker player.
After getting money from the customer, the suspect proceeded to the cashier’s booth where he demanded money from the cashier.
The cashier opened the cash box, grabbed a handful of bills and threw them out from the booth’s window.
The suspect picked up the money and ran outside. The customer who was earlier robbed ran to her car and honked the horn, calling for help.
The establishment’s security guard chased the robber. The customer followed the two, who were running north on a secondary road.
The security guard managed to catch up and subdue the suspect near Sablan’s Apartments. Police officers arrived and placed the suspect under arrest.
David said Smile Poker was also robbed last April 3, during which the suspect, armed with a blunt object, used the same mode of operation.
In April 2007, a security guard was injured when three men staged an armed robbery at the same establishment. Police later arrested four suspects—Fernando Quitano, Christopher Lee Muna, and Joseph San Nicolas alias Jun Dagu, and Martin P. Cepeda.
