Robberies tied to card club, police say
Three men who robbed an Alameda woman at gunpoint early Tuesday targeted her as she visited an Emeryville card club and then followed her home, police said.
The robbery of the 52-year-old woman marks the fourth time since September that an Alameda resident has been robbed after leaving the Oaks Card Room on San Pablo Avenue.
“We think the same suspects are responsible,” Alameda police detective Sgt. Don Owyang said Thursday, noting that the description of the getaway car was similar in each case.
The suspects confronted the most recent victim about 4 a.m. outside her home on Island Drive. At least one man was armed with a handgun.
After knocking the woman to the ground, the men stole about $2,370 from her, police said.
Last month, a man was robbed outside his Benton Street home after he left what police described as a “poker school” neighboring the Emeryville card room, while two other Alameda residents were robbed in September, including a woman who works at the club.
While each victim was physically assaulted, none required medical attention, Alameda police Lt. Art Fuentes said.
The robberies left each victim shaken, Fuentes said.
“I would encourage anyone who has information about these robberies to contact police,” he said. “People should also always be aware of their surroundings and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
One victim — a 63-year-old man robbed on Eighth Street — told police he noticed the suspect’s four-door green Honda Accord tailing him as he drove through Oakland’s Chinatown after he had left the card club.
The woman who works at the business was robbed as she stood in her driveway on Bay Street, where a man knocked her down and grabbed her purse, which contained about $1,700.
The robber needed to jump a fence to get into the driveway because the property was secured with a remote-controlled gate, Fuentes noted. The man did not display a weapon.
As with the robbery on Eighth Street, the suspect may have fled in a dark Honda.
The woman who was robbed Tuesday described the vehicle as a four-door older model.
Each suspect was a black male, she said.
The man who displayed the handgun was described as about 27 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build. His dark hair was styled in short “twisters” and he was wearing a black coat and black pants, police said.
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