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Friday, September 17, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Two robbers ambush, kill guard at mall
A jewelry store holdup may be linked to a similar crime in California, police say.
By Joe Schoenmann
Review-Journal
Las Vegas police have found a potential connection between a slaying and robbery at a jewelry store Thursday and a similar robbery in Northern California earlier this summer.
Homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said the Chong Hing jewelry store, 4205 Spring Mountain Road, where a security guard was slain Thursday, is owned by the same company that owns a Milpitas, Calif., jewelry store that was robbed in July.
In both cases, Petersen said, the method of robbery was similar.
"The store that was robbed (in July) had the exact same M.O. (modus operandi)," he said. "Except in that one, they did not kill the security guard; they disarmed him."
In Thursday's robbery, a 34-year-old security guard was shot, possibly in the back, by one of two robbers about 11:30 a.m.
Homicide detectives released footage of surveillance video that showed the guard before the robbery walking quietly alone, back and forth in front of the store's front door for several minutes. Then he walked outside.
Almost as soon as he stepped out the door, someone ran at him from behind. Then from an outside camera, a figure in the same area as the guard was seen dropping to the ground.
Police Capt. Greg Jolley said the guard, who was armed, was likely unaware that the jewelry store was about to be robbed.
"He was just walking out to his vehicle," Jolley said. "It does not appear as though he had a chance."
A second after the guard was shot, two men in ski masks entered the store, moved the employees around at gunpoint and targeted some rear counter space where Petersen said high-end jewelry is displayed. Police did not have an estimate of the value of the jewelry that was taken.
The daylight robbery occurred in a packed mall. The surveillance video showed people walking nonchalantly around the getaway car as the two men inside were robbing the store and the security guard was lying on the ground.
The tape then showed the two running out to a powder-blue Toyota Camry parked illegally in the lot and speeding away.
They killed the guard, robbed the store and were speeding away, all in about 30 seconds, Petersen said.
"These guys are real cold-blooded and obviously well-prepared and have it very well-planned," the lieutenant said.
An autopsy will determine whether the guard was shot from behind, he said.
Except for the killing, Thursday's robbery mimicked the July 19 robbery of a Chong Hing jewelry store in Milpitas.
Lt. Tom Borck of the Milpitas Police Department said the robbery occurred about noon in a busy shopping center that specialized in Asian products.
"They couldn't have picked a busier time to commit this robbery," Borck said.
Two masked men, one carrying an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, entered the store, disarmed the guard and targeted the higher-priced merchandise. They were in and out in about 30 seconds, Borck added.
Nevada records showed that the president of Chong Hing Goldsmith Corp. is Ronald Lee of Los Angles. The San Jose Mercury News reported in 1997 that Lee owned stores in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Milpitas and San Gabriel, Calif.
The shooting at Chinatown Mall left several witnesses shaken Thursday afternoon. Among the first to react to the gunfire were pharmaceutical salesman Trevor Crosby and retired firefighter Bill Desmond.
An hour after the shooting, Crosby still had blood on his box of pharmaceuticals, and Desmond said he expected to have nightmares.
Both men attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the security guard, who lay between two cars in the parking lot.
"You see something like that, you try to help," said Desmond, who was across Spring Mountain when he heard the gunshot and saw the guard drop to the ground.
By the time Desmond got to the guard, it appeared that he was already gone, Desmond said.
"I tried to talk to him but got no response," he said. "He had no chance to say anything."
Several people commented on the security guard's kindness, including Rosa Nabarro, who said hello to the man a few minutes before his death.
"He replied, 'Good morning, beautiful,' " Nabarro said.
Man killed in fight at restaurant
Review-Journal
A fight Thursday at a private party in a restaurant on Spring Mountain Road led to the shooting death of a 25-year-old Las Vegas man.
The killing was the first of two slayings in seven hours in businesses on Spring Mountain.
Homicide Sgt. Rocky Alby said Las Vegas police were called about 5:03 a.m. to the restaurant in the 4700 block of Spring Mountain. When they arrived, they found Guanghong Gao and another man the victims of gunshot wounds.
The two were transported to University Medical Center, where Gao died. The other man, who was not identified, was expected to survive, Alby said.
Witnesses told police that several people had gathered for a private birthday party, during which an argument erupted.
One man involved left the party, then returned, police said.
Gao and the other man later were outside when they were approached and asked, "Are you the one that beat up my brother?"
The suspect, Alby said, then pulled a gun from his waistband and shot both men.
Anyone with information about the shooting may call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or the Homicide Detail at 229-3521.
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Printable version of this story
Las Vegas homicide Sgt. Ken Hefner looks over the body of a security guard shot to death Thursday outside the Chong Hing jewelry store, 4205 Spring Mountain Road.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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