Rapid City, S.D. – On July 3, 2012 at about 10:51 p.m., Rapid City Police responded to a report of a robbery at the King of Hearts Casino at 3030 West Main Street. The clerk reported that a male suspect, armed with handgun, had just robbed the business of cash and fled before officers arrived.

While officers were still at the scene of the robbery, the Rapid City / Pennington County Emergency Communications Center received a call at about 11:30 p.m. of an accident at mile post 58 on I-90 (N. Haines and I-90). The vehicle which crashed was the same one Law Enforcement in Meade County had just been pursuing. When officers arrived no one was in the vehicle, and a Rapid City K-9 officer and his canine partner began tracking and ultimately located the suspect hiding in a nearby culvert. 

Upon further investigation it was determined the crashed vehicle was the getaway car in the robbery and the driver was the suspect in that robbery. Billy Joe Robertson, age 25, was arrested for 1^st Degree Robbery, False Personation, and a warrant for Parole Violation. Charges in Meade County are pending. 

Items recovered linked Robertson to the robbery. A handgun which was located near his hiding spot was an air soft pistol.  

The investigation is continuing and additional information should be available tomorrow.    

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