‘Red Mazda pickup used in Happy Market robbery’

The three masked men who attacked a security guard during a robbery at Happy Market in As Lito used a red Mazda pickup truck with no tailgate as their getaway vehicle, according to NMI Crime Stoppers coordinator Jason Tarkong yesterday.

Tarkong said the security guard told police that the suspects parked the pickup truck next to the trash bin located outside the store building.

Tarkong also announced that the NMI Crime Stoppers Program is offering up to $1,000 cash reward for any information that will lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects.

He said that Department of Public Safety police officers and emergency medical services personnel responded to Happy Market on Friday at 3:39am, where they met the 43-year-old Bangladeshi security guard.

Medics treated the security guard and brought him to the Commonwealth Health Center’s emergency room for further treatment.

Tarkong said the victim sustained head trauma and contusions and abrasions on the left shoulder, which was also dislocated.

Tarkong said one suspect was described as short and fat, while the other two were skinny.

Police officers saw that the store’s front glass door had been shattered, cash registers were open, and several items were missing from the shelves.

Police learned from the victim and video surveillance camera that around 3:15 to 3:30am, the power to the building went off. The store was closed at that time.

The guard walked around the building to check the main switch panel box located on the northwest corner of the building.

The victim saw the red Mazda pickup truck parked next to the trash bin with one suspect inside the vehicle. The three suspects then approached the guard. The short and fat suspect hit the guard with a golf club on the left shoulder, causing the victim to fall down. The suspect then hit the guard’s head, causing the guard to lose consciousness. He awoke later after the store had already been ransacked.

Tarkong said the stolen items include 20 cartons of Doral Slims, 20 cartons of Doral Menthol Lights, two cartons of Regular Lights, 15 cartons of Pall Mall Green, five cartons of Pall Mall Blue, two cartons of Pall Mall Red, five cartons of Doral Red, and 18 cartons of Doral Green.

The total amount of the stolen cigarettes is estimated at over $2,800. In addition, $7,900 in cash was taken from the cash registers.

Tarkong said that DPS and NMI Crime Stoppers Program are seeking the public’s help in getting information about the suspects.

“Please contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 234-7272 should you want to remain anonymous or use our website at www.nmicrimestoppers.net,” he said.

In an interview on Monday, Happy Market owner Huang Fang disclosed that one suspect, described as large and possibly local, was wearing a mask with a tiger design.

Fang said 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 to inform her about the robbery at 4:40am that same day.