Arsenio Hall — not the comedian — accused of robbing Albertsons where he worked
He could’ve been known for sharing his name with a famous comedian.
But now police have accused Arsenio “Chicago” Hall of two robberies at the Las Vegas Valley grocery store where he used to work. He had been fired, a police report said, for asking “a lot of strange questions” about where the supermarket keeps its cash.
Hall, 22, and Terrance Ernst, 23, were arrested shortly after the second armed robbery on Dec. 29 at the Albertsons at 4850 W. Craig Road, near the intersection at North Decatur Boulevard.
The first robbery happened Dec. 21, police said. Two men wearing masks entered the store and took cash from a register. At least one of them had a gun.
Next the pair walked up to a clerk, put a gun to her head and forced her into the store’s “safe room,” where money is kept, according to an arrest report.
Two armed men returned to the same store and forced themselves in at closing time Dec. 29, police said. The men grabbed the guard at an entrance and took him to the safe room where they forced him and the manager on the floor at gunpoint.
After the first robbery, Metro detectives said they believed at least one of the robbers knew the store’s system and outline. Witnesses said that the robbers didn’t need direction to the safe room and knew what it was called even though it wasn’t labeled, police said.
When asked if she suspected anyone of the robbery, one of the store clerks brought up Hall, who had worked at Albertsons for the month of October and had recently been fired. He was terminated for asking “a lot of strange questions to his co-workers about store operations that didn’t seem appropriate” for his clerk position, the report said.
One of the robbers resembled Hall and had his mannerisms, the store employee told police.
After the second robbery, Metro identified Hall as a suspect and a police helicopter spotted him and a group of people standing by a car at the Green Valley Grocery gas station, 4799 N. Decatur Boulevard, about half a mile north of the Albertsons, police said.
The men ran when the helicopter spotlight shined on them, police said. Ernst was found shortly after and arrested in a nearby neighborhood.
Hall was arrested after North Las Vegas police received calls about a man trying to break into houses in another neighborhood shortly after fleeing. Officers found him in a house, and a police dog bit him after he refused to follow commands, according to an arrest report.
During an interview with police, Ernst admitted being involved in the second robbery, the report said. Hall had pressured him into the second robbery because he had owed him money and wanted to get paid back.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether police suspected Ernst in the first robbery.
Both men are booked in the Clark County Detention Center and face charges including, robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon as well as kidnapping.
Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites
