De-pants bandits still at large in Tolleson

TOLLESON — Police detectives are still investigating a robbery in which two men pulled down a man’s pants and robbed him as he tried to enter a local hotel.

The incident occurred on Sept. 19 at the Comfort Suites near 84th Avenue and McDowell Road. Police say a hotel guest was going inside to meet his three traveling companions when two unidentified suspects approached him near the door.

Both men were armed with semi-automatic pistols, and they pointed them at the victim. The suspects then pulled down the victim’s pants and began to search the pockets, according to police.

After removing the victim’s belongings, the suspects told the victim to pull up his pants and run from the scene.

“He ran around the hotel and across the street to an apartment complex, where he waited until the suspects left before returning to the hotel to call the police,” said Tolleson police Officer Rafael Serra, who was one of the officers on the scene.

The suspects got away with the man’s cell phone, debit card, identification, Social Security card and his wallet, which contained over $3,000.00 cash.

The victim was unable to identify the make or model of the vehicle the two men used to flee. “We checked the area for the vehicle, but the victim didn’t give us a very good description,” Serra said.

This lead police to believe that the victim may have possibly known who the suspects were due to the manner in which they robbed him.

“He was running from them,” Serra said. “Maybe they made him drop his pants so he couldn’t run from them.”

Serra also questioned the victim as to why he was carrying such a large amount of cash. “I found that kind of suspicious,” Serra said.

The victim, who is from Detroit, said he was on vacation. He was not alone.

One male and two females were also with him, but were waiting for him inside of the hotel at the time of the incident.

There may be a possibility the two suspects were also involved in another robbery attempt.

Earlier that night a man was walking two female co-workers to their cars at a business near 86th Avenue and Washington Street when, on his way back, he was approached by two males armed with guns.

“He was able to escape and ran back into the business,” Serra said.

No arrests have been made. Tolleson detectives are still investigating the crime.

Anyone with any information about the case is asked to contact the Tolleson Police Department at (623) 936-7111.

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