Brinks Guard Shot To Death In Calder Racetrack Robbery
MIAMI GARDENS (CBSMiami) - An armored car guard was killed Sunday evening as he tried to make a cash pickup at Calder Race Track in Miami Gardens. Investigators say the guard was ambushed as he left a building at the track, and was shot in an exchange of gunfire with his attacker. The gunman is still at large.
The guard, whose name was not released, drove his Brinks armored truck onto the race track property around 5 p.m.. A spokesperson for the FBI, which is investigating the robbery, said the driver entered what is known as the "Old Building" to make a scheduled cash pickup, his truck parked at the front of the building with another guard remaining inside.
"Just before five suspect gets out of the truck he goes to a bench and sits there. he waits until the armored car guard carrying some money leaves Calder," said FBI Special Agent Mark Leverock.
Race tracks often have large amounts of cash on hand depending on the day's betting handle, and armored car pickups are part of the routine.
When the guard left the building, Special Agent Leverock said he was attacked from behind by the man on the bench. There was an exchange of gunfire, and the Brinks guard was hit by bullets. The guard fell to the ground, and by the time his co-worker was able to get out of the truck, the gunman had fled.
The guard was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center, where he later died of his injuries.
The FBI said the gunman grabbed the money bag the guard was carrying before jumping into a stolen brown truck being driver by an accomplice.
The truck was found abandoned just a short distance away, at the El Palacio Sports Hotel next door to the track. The suspects were not found.
Police are also looking for the driver of a brown sedan who they believe dropped off the robbers at the Wal Mart near Sun Life stadium, where the pickup truck used in the robbery was stolen.
The FBI believes the pickup truck followed the Brinks truck from Wal-Mart to Calder, about a mile away, before staging the robbery.
