RECENTLY in a huddle, we informed a veteran police officer that poker arcade robbers were back. The officer, who caught many robbers in the past, smiled and shook his head. A week after our chat with the officer, the community was stunned to learn that two masked men staged a broad daylight robbery not at a poker establishment but at a bank. The masked robbers even showed they meant business by firing a .25 pistol inside City Trust Bank in Gualo Rai before carting an estimated $6,000 cash. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have joined local investigators in trying to determine the identities of those two men who staged the first bank robbery in the commonwealth. To begin solving the City Trust heist, it is important to review the recent rash of robberies that occurred over the past two months on the island.
Last Feb. 17, a man armed with a machete robbed Subway in Gualo Rai and took an estimated $300 to $600 cash. Last March 2, a machete-wielding man robbed Dasom Market in Gualo Rai, netting $300 cash. The store is located near Subway. A week later, a man beat up a businesswoman and robbed her Carry Store in Chalan Kanoa District 2. Last March 16, a man beat up a businesswoman, robbed her Taga Mart Convenience Store in Chalan Kanoa District I and took off with $400 cash. Six days later, two unidentified men, including one armed with a gun, tied an attendant and took $870 from Hilltop Poker in Sadog Tasi. Three days after the Hilltop incident, a cashier was injured after he struggled with a knife-wielding man who tried to rob Royal Flush Game Room in Susupe.
Of these six robberies, not one had been solved as of yesterday. Last April 3, three persons robbed Fun & Game Poker along Middle Road in Gualo Rai and fled with an estimated $600 to $700 cash plus $900 in coins. One of the suspects was armed with a machete and was wearing a black mask. Thanks to a concerned citizen, police managed to track down the suspects. Three male juveniles were arrested and some money, a machete and other pieces of evidence were recovered.
Is it a coincidence that of the eight robbery cases, including that of City Trust, four or half of them happened in Gualo Rai? It is also interesting to note that the suspects in the Hilltop Poker heist in Sadog Tasi and the City Trust case have a lot of similarities. We were also told that the bank robbers’ real intention could be the $40,000 deposited in the bank that day. Fortunately, the robbers went to the other teller who didn’t have enough money. If this is true, then we might be dealing with more than two suspects here. Obviously the robbery was well-planned. FBI and local investigators should conduct a deeper probe.
The City Trust incident also opened other issues such as the reported $23 million in government funds that were deposited in banks not federally insured, the absence of surveillance cameras, and lack of security guards at banks during daytime. Public Safety Commissioner Edward Camacho should start reminding investigators to solve the bank robbery and the many other robbery cases. Another area the commissioner should reconsider is the previous DPS administration’s decision of pulling out police officers assigned to the FBI-CNMI Task Force. A couple of years ago, the task force prosecuted a number of robbers, mostly poker thieves. As a result, a lot of criminals were thrown into jail facilities in the U.S. and the rash of poker robbery incidents stopped for a few months. Camacho and his trusted investigators should immediately arrest the suspects in these recent robberies to send a strong message and deter other bandits from committing similar acts. Meantime, DPS and FBI should combine resources to quickly solve the City Trust puzzle. Otherwise, we may see more bank heists.
A police officer was with his girlfriend on the beach. The cop’s wife, however, caught the lovers. The girlfriend managed to run away. The officer tried to “explain,” but his wife whacked him (where it really hurts) with a rock. Since that incident, the cop is now called by his fellow officers as “The Rock.”
