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3 men rob Happy Market in As Lito
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Posted on Dec 16 2013
A security guard sustained serious injuries after three masked men, one reportedly armed with a gun, robbed Happy Market along Martinez Road in As Lito early Friday morning.
The suspects took off with $7,992 in cash and $2,800 worth of cigarettes, according to the store’s owner, Huang Fang. The store was closed at the time.
In an interview yesterday, Fang said their security guard, a Bangladeshi national named Rahman, was taken to the Commonwealth Health Center due to a dislocated left shoulder and other injuries.
The Department of Public Safety has yet to release information about the robbery.
Fang said that one suspect, described as large and possibly local, was wearing a mask with a tiger design. She disclosed that the two other suspects, described as both skinny, are possibly Chinese as the guard overheard them saying “Hurry up! Hurry up!” in Chinese.
Fang said she received a call from police on Friday at 4:40am that Happy Market had been robbed and that their security guard was beaten up.
It is not clear whether the suspects were armed with a baseball bat, a gun, or both.
The owner said that after receiving the call, she and her husband proceeded to Happy Market where police were already conducting an investigation.
Fang said she learned that three suspects came and parked their vehicle in the back of the building.
After a few minutes, the suspects shut down the electric power to the building. When the security guard checked the building’s back area where the power meter was located, the suspects assaulted him, causing him to lose consciousness in the grassy area.
The suspects then broke the main entrance’s glass door, took money from the cash register, and grabbed several cartons of cigarettes under the cashier’s table.
Fang said the surveillance camera stopped because the robbers shut down the power at 3:20am. She said it was the guard who called police after he regained consciousness.
Fang and her husband bought the store from a Korean businessman in February 2011. She said it was the first time the store was robbed since their takeover.
Police are now conducting follow-up investigation.
