When one thinks of home poker game robberies, one usually thinks of some underground game in a sketchy part of the city or a rival gang hitting a mafia game. That wasn’t at all the case late at night on Easter Sunday, when a regular neighborhood game was hit by armed robbers in Sayville, Suffolk County, New York.
Suffolk Police told local media outlets that just before midnight, two masked men, one carrying a handgun, entered a home where 11 people were playing poker. They stole cell phones, cash, and jewelry.
A twelfth person had the unfortunate timing of walking into the house as the two robbers were making their getaway. The man was shot twice; one of the bullets actually hit a neighboring house. Police say the gunshot victim, who was hospitalized, should be ok.
Cliff Miller, a neighbor, told Newsday, “It’s usually a real quiet block. Nothing ever happens here.”
He added that he will feel more comfortable once he finds out if it was a targeted incident or completely random. Logically, it would seem to be a targeted incident. Considering how many people were in the house, one would assume that there were lights on and plenty of cards outside, so the robbers would have known people were home and probably awake. If they were just going for a random house, odds are they would want somewhere where nobody appeared home.
Additionally, it would have been a huge coincidence that the one house they hit happened to have a poker game going on with presumably lots of cash out in the open.
Police did say that they believe the house was specifically targeted, particularly because it was the scene of a similar event in 2010. Two people were arrested in that instance and the case is sealed, so Newsday had no other information. Detective Lt. Anthony Calandrillo told the media that they will look at that past incident to see if there is any connection, since it happened at the same house with the same owner.
A neighbor told Newsday that everyone in the neighborhood knew about the regular card game and never had any problem with it. But now that the robbery and shooting happened, she wants the game to stop.
Police are still looking for the two robbers, who disguised their appearance with masks and gloves.