3 women robbed at SugarHouse, one pistol whipped

Police are searching for two masked men who robbed three woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of the SugarHouse Casino early Friday morning, and pistol-whipped one woman before fleeing with cash and credit cards.

The stickup is the first robbery to occur on Sugarhouse's grounds since its opening in September. It's the second such incident to be linked to the casino, however: last month, a man who won about $2,000 was followed home to New Jersey by two men who later attempted to rob him.

Surveillance cameras outside the casino on the Delaware waterfront captured the Friday morning robbery, said Anthony DiLacqua, head of security for SugarHouse. That footage has been turned over to police for review.

Police said the three women, ages 29, 30 and 32, drove to the casino shortly before 1 a.m. Their assailants drove into the parking lot immediately after the women did, police said.

The women were walking to the gaming hall when they were stopped by two men who had masked the lower half of their faces and were armed with silver handguns.

One robber hit the 30-year-old woman with a pistol in the head and he and his partner took two purses and a cell phone from the women, police said.

The pair fled with $340 in cash and credit cards in a silver Pontiac that had been reported stolen in a robbery Thursday in Darby Township, Delaware County.

The woman who was hit with a gun was treated at Episcopal Hospital for a head wound.

Sugarhouse has 24-hour security, including a vehicle that patrols the parking lot. There is also an on-site Pennsylvania State Police barracks and a regular city police detail, DiLacqua said. The casino is monitored by more than 500 cameras.

"We believe this robbery was very quick, and could have taken place in under a minute," DiLacqua said.

The robbery is the fourth reported crime to take place at Sugarhouse since its Sept. 23 opening, said Philadelphia Lt. Ray Evers. The previous reported crimes were thefts from cars, as well as one report of a car window being broken.

On Oct. 16, a 26-year-old man who won about $2,000 at the casino was pistol whipped when he returned home to Cinnaminson by would-be robbers who apparently followed him there. The men apparently heard the victim calling his girlfriend and telling her about his winnings before he left the area.

Police said the attackers got nothing for their effort, partly because the victim wrestled one to the ground and another tripped over his baggy pants and fell down. No arrests have been made in that case.