Bingo player robbed of $2,100 winnings
By Lauren Pack
Staff Writer
Saturday, June 23, 2007
MIDDLETOWN — Erin Cox was looking forward to an upcoming vacation with her family and even had a nice bit of spending money after winning big at Roosevelt Bingo on Thursday night — until a man robbed her of all of her cash before she could make it inside her house.
"I am still shaken up, but I wasn't hurt. That's what counts," Cox said less than 24 hours after a man robbed her while she was getting out of her car at her Vanderveer Street residence.
Cox, the mother of two young boys, is an avid bingo player and had enjoyed a particularly good night at the Roosevelt Boulevard hall. She won $1,100, which was a nice chunk of change to add to the family's $1,000 budget for vacation, she said.
As Cox reached in her car to lock the door at about 10:20 a.m., a man walked up and said, "Give me what you've got."
"I told him I didn't have anything, but he told me again to give him what I had," Cox said, adding she then gave him her wallet containing her bingo winnings and the vacation money.
Cox's husband, Shawn Spoonmore, found the wallet ditched at the rear of the residence near a trash can. It was empty. The cash, credit cards and Cox's identification were gone.
The robber is described as a black male, 6 feet tall, 160 to 170 pounds, possibly hazel eyes, short hair, wearing a black shirt and blue jean shorts that came to his shins. Cox said the robber held something to her back, but she did not see a weapon.
The family doesn't plan to let the robbery get them down, Cox said. They are still planning to visit Hershey, Pa., and the site of the Battle of Gettysburg. Other family members will help out with expenses, she said.
Cox said she has won big at bingo in the past and never felt afraid to take her money home. She said she feels sure someone must have been watching her and knew she had a large amount of cash.
Middletown detectives are investigating the case and said they will pursue Cox's theory about the robbery.
When she returns from vacation, Cox said she will be back playing bingo, but she will not be returning home alone.
"If I do, there will be someone waiting for me on the porch," she said. |
