Dozens robbed in Stockton card room; home also hit
Robbers in two separate, late-weekend incidents threatened more than five dozen people, including children, with guns and stole money and jewelry, Stockton police said. No one was hurt.
Three masked and armed men ambushed a Pacific Avenue card club around midnight Sunday, forcing approximately 50 patrons to lay on the floor before fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash. The three men, all wearing white plastic masks and armed with an assault-type rifle and a shotgun, entered the Cameo Club at 5757 Pacific Ave. shortly after midnight Monday, according to Stockton police.
They overpowered a security guard and took his Glock 9mm handgun and wallet, police said.
“He did the appropriate thing, just laying down on the floor with everybody else,” Stockton police Lt. George Lerner said.
After raiding a cash drawer in the casino’s cash/chip booth, the three men fled in a light-colored, box-style four-door sedan, which may have been a Nissan or Mercedes, according to a witness’ description. Eddie, a Cameo Club manager who refused to give his last name, said the card room closed early Monday morning but reopened at the usual time later in the day.
“What can you do?” he said. “What changes can you make?” Lerner said the card room causes “very little problem” for police. “Every once in a while they might have some inappropriate gambling going on,” he said. “But for the most part we have no problems with them.”
The Cameo Club holdup occurred just hours after police responded to an armed residential robbery in the 900 block of South American Street. Shortly before 7:45 p.m., three men, one of whom brandished a black revolver, forced their way into the residence and ordered 11 people celebrating a birthday party to lay on the kitchen floor, police said.
The men then robbed the victims of their money and jewelry. Police describe one suspect as in his mid-20s, standing between 5 foot 6 and 6 feet tall and wearing black clothing; the other two suspects wore ski masks. Police say the suspects approached a group of children playing outside the house, asked if one of the adult victims was home and then pulled out a gun and forced the children inside, where the robbery took place.
Police have little additional information on the cases, although Lerner said the two robberies are not considered related. Investigators will continue interviewing witnesses today.
To reach reporter Cheryl Miller, phone 546-8252 or e-mail cmiller@recordnet.com
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