[clevfan]

Poker Players Robbed of Winnings


Al Pefley
June 10, 2008 - 5:51PM
cbs12 Miami

Imagine winning a small fortune in a poker tournament, and then being being followed home and robbed at gunpoint. Authorities raided a house in Miami, and made three arrests in a daring armed holdup that happened in Wellington in March.

Two college students had won nearly $25-thousand dollars in a poker tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. Investigators say the men watched them playing poker, and then got in a car, donned ski-masks and followed them home to Wellington in the wee hours of the morning and shot at them.

"Who could've thought? Who could've imagined? Um, very scary for a parent," said Loren Londner, mother of Brett Maistri who was robbed along with his friend Sean Remz.

Sheriff's detectives say the attackers confronted the two teens at gunpoint at Wellington Trace and Forest Hill Boulevard. One shot was fired. The victims sped off, but were robbed moments later, as they hid in some bushes.
Maistri's mother applauds the efforts of sheriff's detectives. "This has been a difficult day. The kids are reliving a lot of this and they're very happy that these people were caught. It's been very traumatizing for them. They're only 18 years old and never experienced anything like this before and hopefully never will again," Londner said.

She told us her son was not available for comment, and Remz' father said his son had no comment.

Three men are under arrest. Eighteen year old Emmanuel Alexis of North Miami Beach, 18 year old Clinton Ellington Jr. Of Miami, and 18 year old Jahson Linton of Boynton Beach. "They obviously are predators and needed to be off the streets and now we've gotta hope that everything is done just right so they can stay off the streets," Londner told reporters.

"Actually I hope this sort of serves as a lesson, that there are dangers out there, that these kids who are not used to dealing with these kinds of people have to be very savvy and a little more aware."