Armed Robbery Leaves Retired Navy Officer With Nightmares
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WEST PARK (CBSMiami) -- Police are looking to identify two individuals who robbed a retired U.S. Naval officer after leaving a West Park nightclub.
The victim told CBS4's Peter D'Oench the incident has left him deeply disturbed.
"I feel degraded," said 49-year-old Lamar Salem. "This is horrible and I have been having nightmares every week since this happened."
Surveillance video from August 5th, around 4:30 a.m., at the The Polo Club on 5590 Hallandale Beach Blvd., showed the robbery as a four-door sedan pulls up behind Salem's Toyota Tundra, essentially ambushing Salem.
"I was horrified," he said. "Something like this has never happened to me. I have served all over this country on a global level right here, protecting the people in the United States and I cannot believe something like this happened to me."
"I went in to the place to have a soft drink and about 45 minutes later, I came out, and they followed me to my truck and as I put my keys in, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and held a gun to my face and demanded my money," he said. "We struggled and I was shot in the pinky. I stopped struggling because I did not want to die and I thought of my daughter who is in college and who loves me very much."
Salem did not want to show all of his face but agreed to demonstrate what happened to him.
"I gave up $250, all my credit cards and all my house keys and car keys," he said.
Fortunately, the thieves didn't take his truck and he was able to drive home using a spare key he had on hand.
The two suspects were later spotted at a gas station using the man's stolen credit cards to buy drinks. The new surveillance tape shows the suspects mingling with store customers.
One was wearing a black baseball cap, a red shirt, plaid shorts and boat shoes. The other had on a black shirt with a stripe along the sleeves, shorts and sneakers.
BSO says both men are in their 20's, stand about 5'6" to 5'7" and weigh between 120 to 130 pounds.
"It would mean a lot to catch these guys," said Salem. "It would mean everything to me. These are criminals and robbers and thugs, that they can do this to anybody. They do not need to be in society."
If you know these guys, contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org. As always, anonymous tips that lead to an arrest are eligible for a reward of up to $3,000.