Quote:Job wanted: Good with cash, able to make quick getaway

Man detained in robbery where suspect left name, address on work application

By GLENN PUIT
REVIEW-JOURNAL



Alejandro Martinez
Robbery suspect left name and address on job application, police say





Authorities say a man accused of robbing a pizza parlor last month left behind a crucial piece of evidence at the crime scene: a partially filled out job application with his name and address on it.

"I would chalk it up to either inexperience or plain stupidity," Clark County prosecutor Frank Coumou said Tuesday.

Alejandro Martinez, 23, of Las Vegas is charged with burglary and robbery with use of a deadly weapon in the May 25 robbery of the Papa Murphy's pizza parlor, 2875 S. Nellis Blvd., south of Sahara Avenue. He is being held in the Clark County Detention Center pending an appearance in District Court on Monday.

According to authorities, Martinez entered the restaurant, ordered a pizza and asked for a job application.

"The cashier immediately gave him a job application and a pen, so he started filling it out," Coumou said. "Then, when he thought the moment was right, he lifts his shirt, exposes the butt of a firearm, and he tells her to give him all the money."

The clerk handed over $200, and Martinez left, police said. A witness followed the gunman and took down the license plate number of a car he was in.

Police then traced the license plate number and found Martinez at his home, where he was arrested.

When police went back to the pizza parlor to process the crime scene, they found even more evidence: Martinez's partially filled out job application at the counter.

"It had his real name and his real address on it," Coumou said.

Deputy Public Defender James Ruggeroli said the clerk at the pizza parlor could not be certain of her identification of Martinez during a preliminary hearing.

He also said the job application was not presented as evidence at the hearing.

"The actual identity (of the suspect) is still in dispute," Ruggeroli said.

Coumou said Martinez's arrest led authorities to charge him in another robbery in the Las Vegas Valley. The case is pending in District Court.



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