Another coin truck falls prey to robber

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2000 | 12:02 p.m.

Another coin truck was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday, but the truck's alarm sounded, spooking the robber before he could force the driver to another location.

A gunman confronted a driver of a Jackpot Enterprises coin truck outside an Albertson's grocery store in the 600 block of North Nellis Boulevard about 4:45 p.m. and forced him back into the van, Metro Police said.

The robber ordered the driver to go to another location -- which has been the norm in many of the recent coin truck robberies -- but the coin truck's alarm was going off and the truck wouldn't start, according to a police report. The robber grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash inside the truck and fled. No one was injured during the robbery.

Tuesday's coin truck robbery differed from similar holdups because of the time of day and the location. Many of the recent coin truck holdups occurred later in the evening and most happened outside of bars, said Metro robbery Lt. John Alamshaw.

The Las Vegas area has been hit with a string of at least 15 coin truck robberies in the past three months.

Metro robbery detectives believe there is more than just one group targeting the coin trucks.

In most of the robberies, one or two gunmen approach a driver after he makes a pickup at a location. They force the driver back into the truck, make him drive to another location, rob the truck and then flee in a waiting car.

In November, five people were arrested in connection with a couple of the coin truck robberies. Three of those men are suspected in five other coin truck robberies and an attempted robbery.

The only time someone has been shot during a coin truck robbery was earlier this month when a security guard was sitting in a company van waiting for a coin truck driver to show up. A gunman apparently thought the security guard's van was a coin truck and attempted to rob it.

The man walked up to the van, banged on the driver's side window with a gun, threatened the driver and demanded money. The security guard drove the van away, but the robber fired one shot through the van, striking the driver in the left arm.