Lufkin Police Arrest Man Suspected of Armed Robbery

Early Monday morning, Lufkin Police arrested Ernesto Maldonado in connection to the armed robbery of a game room where he previously worked. At midnight Monday, officers were called to Golden Dragon game room at 529 E. Laurel St. after a man later identified as Maldonado allegedly robbed the business at gunpoint and left on a motorcycle.

A clerk told officers that she was just finishing up her shift and opened the door for who she thought was another employee. That is when she met by Maldonado who was still wearing a motorcycle helmet. She said he pointed a gun at her face and then placed it in his waistband before demanding money he said was owed to him by the owner.

She said she then opened the register and gave Maldonado an undisclosed amount of money. She said he told her not to call police and asked her to pray with him (which she said she did not) before he left.

Multiple tips and witness accounts identified Maldonado as the suspect, leading officers to his home on Cicero Hill Road in Hudson. He was taken into custody without incident around 5:30 a.m.

Detectives found the clothes Maldonado was wearing during the robbery and the motorcycle helmet. He had pushed the motorcycle to the back of his property, but officers located it as well.

As for the gun, Maldonado told detectives that he’s a felon so he can’t have one. He later mentioned that he may have had a pellet gun but that officers would need diving gear because it could be in the Neches River. When a detective asked him what color the pistol was that he had, Maldonado responded that if the detective had seen the game room surveillance video then he would know it was black.

The Angelina County Sheriff’s Office assisted in Maldonado’s arrest. He is charged with aggravated robbery and remains in the Angelina County Jail on a $100,000 bond.