Ex-con in Good Friday poker robbery falls

An ex-convict wanted by the police for allegedly staging a broad daylight robbery at a poker arcade in Sadog Tasi on Good Friday was arrested during a car chase early Sunday morning.

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Claudio K. Norita announced at a news briefing yesterday that Jesse Joseph Quitugua Saralu was apprehended when his car crashed off the roadway on Capital Hill during police pursuit.

Saralu, a golf course marshal at Lao Lao Bay Resort, was not injured.

Norita said the vehicle-a blue Nissan Altima with license plate ABZ-148 and registered to Saralu's sister, who is off-island-was impounded. The car had slight damage.

Police Officer 2 Kevin Maratita said that on Friday at 11:30am, a robbery was reported at Capitol Poker and Saralu was identified as the suspect through a surveillance camera inside the establishment.

A Korean female poker attendant sustained some scratches in the neck during the incident. She refused medical attention from responding medics.

Maratita said that Saralu was not armed when he robbed the poker arcade.

Based on the video and the poker attendant's statement, it showed that Saralu was playing poker at the time and had asked the attendant to check the machine because of a malfunction.

The detective said that, as the attendant was checking the machine, the suspect choked her from behind, causing her to black out. When the attendant regained consciousness, she found herself along the hallway near the restroom.

Maratita said the attendant saw Saralu in the cashier's booth so she went straight to the nearby Amiga Market where she called the police. When the officers arrived, the suspect had already left.

DPS launched a manhunt against Saralu after the Superior Court issued an arrest and search warrants against the suspect and the vehicle he used in committing the robbery.

Maratita said that on Sunday at 3:19am, Police Officers Chris Leon Guerrero and Edwin Aguon were on routine patrol when they spotted the Nissan Altima heading north near La Fiesta in San Roque.

Noticing the patrol officers following him, Saralu, who was driving the vehicle, turned toward the former Hotel Nikko (now Palms Resort Saipan), then proceeded south.

The two officers chased the vehicle until it crashed near a residence on Capital Hill

News Added: 25 March, 2008

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