SAN ANTONIO – A robber with a crowbar demanded cash from a downtown motel clerk and it was all caught on camera.
“I wasn’t even the one robbed and I’m shaking,” manager Brian Hood said.
It happened just after 11 p.m. Tuesday night at the Rodeway Inn at 900 North Main, located off I-35 on the north end of downtown.
In a brazen move, the robber removed his hood – even though the second he walked into the lobby it was obvious he was on candid camera.
"I'm amazed,” Hood said. “We have this monitor big as day in front of our front desk and this guy was on video. He came in, took his hoodie off and showed his face to the world."
It’s a face, Hood hoped, someone out there would recognize.
"I want to see him caught,” Hood said. "He pulled out a crowbar, had a crowbar in his hand. He said, 'Give me the money.' [The clerk] began to panic. She gave him some money."
A police report stated the robber told the clerk, “It’s nothing personal.”
In the past year, police have been called to Rodeway Inn more than 180 times and Hood says his clerks know what to do.
"We tell our clerks that if you get robbed or if you feel in danger, we can replace the money. We can't replace you,” he said.
Why so many phone calls to police? One reason, Hood said, is the motel’s location next to the highway. If a passerby needs to call 911, it’s often the only address easily available.
But he also said employees have police on speed dial.
"We have a zero tolerance policy for any drug use in the rooms or any suspicion of illegal activity,” Hood said.
Several motel employees live on the property and have called police themselves if they see squatters, drug users or anything else out of the ordinary.
"If we see anything that's suspicious we kick them out of the hotel,” Hood said.
And he hoped the surveillance video would soon kick the robber off the streets.
Anyone who recognizes the robber is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (210) 224-STOP.
