Monday night's snowstorm may have aided the escape of a man who robbed a video store on South Carson Street with a gun wrapped in a black cloth.
Carson City detectives are searching for leads on a suspect who robbed Hollywood Video at about 9:45 p.m. Monday then fled on foot through the snow.
He escaped with an undisclosed amount of money and the security surveillance video, the detective said Tuesday.
Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said deputies arrived at 4326 S. Carson St. soon after the call, but did not see the suspect. This is Carson City's first armed robbery of the year.
"A snowstorm came in right after the event," Furlong said. "Deputies were on the scene very quickly. There were no footprints in the snow, the parking lot was cleared, and it started snowing five minutes after we got there."
Carson City Detective Donald White said the two clerks working at Hollywood Video described the suspect as a Hispanic man wearing a black pullover sweatshirt, a black-and-red beanie, a black face warmer and black pants.
The suspect was also described as having brown eyes. No customers were inside the store during the robbery.
White said the suspect allegedly told the two clerks that he had a gun wrapped inside a black cloth.
"He told the clerks that this is a stick up and he's not joking," White said. "The suspect then escorted the clerks to the office, one opened the safe and took out the money and he had the other one take out the surveillance video."
The witnesses reported that the suspect fled the scene southbound on foot with the money in a plastic bag. According to the police report, the 911 call came in at 9:52 p.m. and a deputy was on the scene about two minutes later.
Anyone with information on the robbery can call Detective White at 887-2020, ext. 1400.
Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.