Suspect sought in robbery at LV apartment complex

Thursday, Sept. 23, 1999 | 11:12 a.m.

Metro Police are still looking for a suspect in connection with a Wednesday morning robbery that involved an apartment manager shooting and killing one of the robbers.

About 11:30 a.m. two gunmen entered the office at the Rochelle Manor Apartments, 4340 Escondido St., near Maryland Parkway and University Avenue, police said.

Homicide detectives believe that the two men struck the manager and tied him up before robbing the office.

The manager was able to quickly free himself, grab his handgun and chase after the two men, police said.

The manager told police he confronted the two men in the northeast corner of the apartment's parking lot and demanded his money back.

One of the suspects began to reach inside his clothing for a gun, and the manager shot him several times, police said.

Police are still looking for the second man described as Hispanic, between 27 and 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 200 pounds with a shaved head.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ronald Bloxham says if the circumstances of the case are as described by police, it would be unlikely the office manager will be prosecuted.

"He has the legal right to pursue someone who robbed him," Bloxham said.

He said someone who has been robbed may legally go after the suspects "order them to stop, tell them to get down on the ground. And as soon as the guy turns with a gun (the robbery victim) has the right of self-defense."

A homeowner who shot two intruders last year was later indicted for voluntary manslaughter in one of the deaths.

Thomas Gaule told police that he arrived home on Oct. 25 to find two men in his Lakehurst Road home near Alta and Buffalo drives. He said after he'd been beaten he broke away from his attackers and grabbed a gun from his house.

He opened fire, he told police, and hit both Jason Lamb and Rick Tripp. One of the men was found dead in the driveway. The other was found shot in the back about 500 feet from the home.

The grand jury found no wrongdoing in the shooting of the intruder who died in the driveway. Gaule was indicted in the death of the man who died 500 feet away.