Lone robber brandished a pistol
The lone robber of a west side hotel remains on the lam following a June 21 robbery of the Knights Inn & Suites at 3208 W. Historic Hwy 66.
Gallup Police Officer Charles Steele recorded in a report that at about 12:51 am, a male, possibly Native American and wearing a zip-up black hoodie, black sunglasses, and a red bandana, told a desk clerk at the hotel to “give me the money.”
Steele noted that the clerk on duty stated that the robber entered through a west-side door of the two-story building. The robber got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
“The suspect walked around the corner to the front counter and showed the clerk the gun in his hand,” Steele recorded. “The suspect again said, ‘Give me the f***ing money.’”
Steele wrote that the suspect ran out the front door of the hotel and south toward Gallup High School and the west-side fire station, amid three semi-trucks.
When the suspect initially walked into the hotel, he came across another hotel employee who was stocking shelves, Steele wrote. That employee said the robber told her to “be quiet.”
The employee called the owners of Knights Inn, who also own Super 8 along West Hwy 66, and the owner responded that he saw nothing on a cable videotape.
The police report states that some clothes belonging to the robber were found scattered on the ground near the intersection of Mendoza Road and Armand Ortega Boulevard, which is walking distance from the Knights Inn.
The report doesn’t state what kind of gun was wielded, but says it was silver in color. No shots were fired, according to the police report.
The Knights Inn robbery is one of several that have occurred at west-end businesses over the past few months. The Conoco gas station and convenience store, which is minutes away from the Knights Inn, has been robbed three times in the last nine months. The Econo Lodge and Red Lion Hotel have also been robbed at least once.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
