08:53
23 Nov
A casino visit turned into a nightmare ordeal for one gambler last week as he was abducted and robbed on his return home, several armed robbers involved in the second recent such incident involving the Parx Casino in Philadelphia – the first seeing a patron murdered for his winnings.
The unnamed 46-year-old victim in this incident left the Parx Casino in Bensalem in the early hours of Sunday morning, but his arrival home saw him attacked by three armed and masked men according to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.
Bundled into a U-haul van parked outside his home, the victim was driven to an undisclosed location and questioned in a basement, the glove-wearing attackers determined to find where he hid his cash.
Upon his release, some 2 miles from his house at the 600 block of Adams Avenue, he reported the abduction and robbery despite being warned he would be killed if he contacted the police. He revealed that the robbers had punched him twice and taken cash from his person as well as his home. A handgun, credit and debit cards, and even sneakers were also stolen.
Parx Casino-related murder just weeks before
The attack follows the murder of 54-year-old Sree Aravapalli last month, the company CEO and married father-of-two having just cashed out $10,000 at the Parx Casino.
He was shot to death at his Briardale Court home in Plainsboro Township, Middlesex County shortly afterwards, Aravapalli found with multiple gunshot wounds after police responded to a report of shots fired.
Surveillance video from the Parx Casino showed Mr. Aravapalli being followed by two men at the casino throughout the night, and police later arrested Devon Melchor, 26, of Upper Darby, and Jekai Reid-John, 27, of Norristown.
Reid-John, whose debit card had been used at the casino, and whose white BMW car matched that seen outside Mr. Aravapalli home, as well as containing clothing matching that seen at the casino, has been charged with first-degree murder.
Melchor has been charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Casinos a prime target for set-up robberies
We reported just last week on how a Chicago man was robbed of $40,000 in the car park of the Rivers Casino, 34-year-old Cordero Supe believing he was set-up by a woman in the casino.
“There was a young lady that I saw, I said hello to,” Supe told CBS Chicago local news, adding: “She stood behind me for about an hour, two hours. She knew exactly how much I had to the T.”
The fact that the two bandana-wearing armed robbers driving a blue four-door sedan asked for the specific amount of his winnings led Supe to believe the two threads are connected.
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