In a rarely seen tag-team combination, a mother-son duo in California robbed an elderly casino player of over $4K.
The incident last Tuesday almost resembled a crime movie re-creation. The victim had won over $4500 at the Oroville casino and had just settled down at a slot machine with the amount safely tucked away in her wallet – or so she thought. It was then that an unidentified man, later confirmed as Daniel Braziel, 30 of Marysville, California, struck. He coolly walked up to the woman, wrestled her to the floor, and forcibly took away the money and other unspecified property.
Braziel then ran over to a nearby parking lot where his mother, Regina Brito, 49, was waiting in a parked car. The mother-son duo then fled the scene.
Deputies and detectives were called in shortly after and they got an idea of what had happened from the surveillance cameras. Extensive reporting was also done of the incident by KOVR, a local TV station.
The Sheriff’s office was quick to act too. On Wednesday, warrants to arrest Braziel and Brito and a search warrant for a residential property located in Olivehurst were obtained. The duo was soon arrested and charged with robbery and elderly abuse at the Gold Country Casino.
Brito was picked up by the authorities from an apartment at Linda first, and a search of the place revealed items of the victim taken during the robbery. The getaway car she drove was also searched for clues. The same day, the son Braziel was arrested. Both were held at the Butte County Jail before being arraigned at the Butte County Superior Court on Friday.
A regular at the Gold County Casino told KOVR that the whole case was scary and that an extra twist was provided because a mother and son were working in tandem for the robbery. The Sheriff’s office has appealed to anyone with more information about the case to contact them.
