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High hopes for big payday crushed

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As two Red Rock 10 theater employees counted down company cash at the end of business hours, around 10:30 pm Nov. 28, a knock on the door quickly turned a routine task into a dangerous one as Ivan Brodie, who disguised his face with a blue bandana, attempted to strong arm his way toward some easy cash pickings with the help of a thieving pal waiting nearby.

But things didn’t go as planned for either man.

The employee that answered the door screamed for help. And help quickly came. The other employee in the count room, and another employee in the area, along with a theater customer subdued Brodie, dashing his hopes of a big payout.

Brodie’s accomplice, Simmon Antonio, 27, fled from the theater on foot, heading westbound, but he wasn’t making a clean getaway – two theater employees were hot on his trail. One of them men managed to topple Antonio.

And he was caught, well, at least for a moment.

As the men worked on subduing Antonio, a white Chevy S10 Trailblazer that was cruising the area pulled up to the scene, and out stepped passenger Lavina Sam. Her sister, Antonio’s fiancé Reynelda Sam, waited for them in the vehicle.

According to the police report, Lavina Sam, a former theater employee, yelled at the two men to let Antonio go, and so they did. It was at this time one of the workers recognized that Reynelda Sam was also a former theater employee.

Meanwhile, Gallup Police Department Detective Nicola Martinez described Brodie, 38, as a big guy that was showing all the signs of intoxication during the incident. He was booked for intent to commit a violent felony.

The police had yet to arrest his three accomplices, and by the next day, a sober Brodie was ready to talk to detectives.

“He told us where we can locate them,” Martinez said.

Brodie’s three accomplices were found holed up at Casamera Apartments and booked for one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of attempted robbery.

Martinez said she learned that it took the trio some persuasion to convince Brodie to help them with the robbery, but despite reservations, he decided to join in on their ill-fated plans. He later claimed that he was intoxicated and barely remembered his part in the debacle, adding that his role was supposed be that of “the look out.”

So, what prompted the trio to attempt to rob their former employer?

Martinez said they possessed the faulty notion that the Red Rock 10 had a weak security system, for starters.

“They had this belief that the cameras didn’t work,” she said. “Unfortunately for them the cameras did work.”

The warrants for the suspects arrest gleaned even more information for each individual’s motive to participate in the robbery. According to the affidavit for arrest, Lavina Sam, 21, told Martinez that she planned the robbery after learning where the money was kept and counted.

She also said that she was planning the robbery with Brodie alone, but Antonio wanted to join in the robbery “because he wanted to beat up one of the workers that was saying bad things about his new baby and his family,” the affidavit states.

Reynelda Sam, 25, denied involvement, although in the affidavit, Brodie told Martinez that she called him and said she had a “snatch and grab” planned.

Antonio and the Sam sisters made bail the same day they were booked. They were each held on a $5,000 cash/surety bond. The trio have their arraignment hearing at Magistrate Court Dec. 15.

However, Brodie has yet to post bail as of Dec. 3, according to a jail official. He’s being held at McKinley County Adult Detention Center on a $5,000 cash only bond. He has a preliminary hearing at Magistrate Court Dec. 9.