‘Jody’s Club’ parking lot mugging bandits captured

See how far this band of thugs got, before the ‘long arm of the law’ gathered them in …

Many consider this establishment, Jody’s Restaurant & Lounge, to be a friendly neighborhood gentleman’s club.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It must have seemed like a good idea for a quick-money crime caper: Let’s head over to Jody’s Restaurant & Lounge, use what looks like a real handgun to mug a patron in the parking lot, and then escape with a wad of cash.

That’s what two suspected thieves did on April 11, at this well-known Hazelwood “gentlemen’s club” on the evening of April 11, just before 8:00 p.m.

Police come to the aid of a man held up in the parking lot.

Dispatched to the scene, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct district officers pulled up and spoke with the adult male victim. “He said that two suspects, a male and a female, had approached him in the parking lot, and the male had pointed a handgun at him and demanded money,” reported PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Peter Simpson.

“After obtaining an undisclosed sum of money from the victim, the suspects fled the area on foot,” Simpson added.

Officers, including a police K-9 unit, searched the area for what Simpson described as a young male and female African American duo – armed with a handgun.

Thanks to a tip from a citizen, officers focused their search on a long block north along NE 122^nd Avenue, near NE Oregon Street – less than a quarter mile from Jody’s.

Police say this couple, 20-year-old Robert Michael Delgado, and 18-year-old Jazmin Nshae Smith – are suspected of robbery in this case. MCDC photos

“At 8:45 p.m. officers stopped a car and contacted the three occupants. Witnesses positively identified [two of them,] 20-year-old Robert Michael Delgado and 18-year-old Jazmin Nshae Smith as the robbery suspects,” Simpson said

In the vehicle, officers located a replica firearm, along with the victim’s wallet and cash, Simpson added. “The driver was questioned and released. Solving this case would not have been possible without the assistance of community members who provided key information leading to the arrest of these two robbery suspects.”

Official records show Delgado and Smith were both charged with Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class B Felony – and are currently in custody in the Multnomah County Detention Center, each with bond set at $250,000.

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