Insurance agents robbed

Odessa police and the Ector County sheriff’s office are looking into three robberies of insurance agencies since late October where descriptions of the robber are remarkably similar.

The latest robbery occurred Tuesday afternoon at Beeson’s Insurance, 9000 W. University Blvd.

Sgt. Gary Duesler of the Ector County Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t speculate if Tuesday’s robbery in the county was related to two earlier robberies in the city.

According to a sheriff’s department news release, the suspect is a Hispanic male with a medium complexion in his late 30s to early 40s with brown hair, brown eyes, bad teeth and stands around 5’6” to 5’8” tall. An earlier release from the Odessa Police Department described the suspect in the city robberies as a Hispanic male with a medium complexion in his late 30s to early 40s with brown hair and brown eyes, standing at 5’4” to 5’8” tall, weighing 180 pounds to 200 pounds with a mustache, unshaven face and stained, crooked teeth.

Officials said the man provides false information to his identity and then shows a handgun and demands money from clerks.

That’s what Wendy Beeson and her employees experienced Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. at Beeson’s Insurance.

“I’m just so out of it, I don’t remember how (everything) happened,” Beeson said. “I thought it was a joke.”

But the situation was anything but humorous when the suspect pulled out what Beeson described as a solid black handgun.

The suspect then demanded money and told employees to gather in the break room before leaving, Beeson said. The man got away with a $71 money order and more than a thousand dollars in cash collected in bill payments.

“His face was familiar,” Beeson said. “We’re in such a state of shock.”

Beeson also said a canine unit tracked the suspect, but the man wasn’t found.

The robbery was similar to one Oct. 23 at Allstate Insurance Agent Dan Bertelson’s office, 1806 West County Road. Nataly Rivera, a part-time clerk and Odessa College student, dealt with the suspect directly that day.

“He looked really anxious,” Rivera said.

Rivera lead the suspect to the back of the office to use the restroom while a quote was estimated.

“He pushed me and took his gun out,” she said.

After demanding money, Rivera said the suspect took a cell phone away from another employee and demanded they unplug the phones in the office. He then made them wait in a back room and left.

Fred Loya Insurance, 4031 E. 42nd St., was robbed Nov. 5 in the same manner.

The suspect’s clothes have changed, but facial descriptions reported to the OPD and ECSO are virtually identical.

At Beeson’s Insurance, the suspect was dressed in a blue shirt and white undershirt, blue jeans and a dark baseball cap. He was reported wearing a dirty white T-shirt, brown work boots and blue jeans at Allstate Insurance and was seen wearing a long sleeve khaki thermal shirt with dirty jeans and work boots at Fred Loya Insurance.

All of the insurance agencies robbed have no men employed as clerks. The suspect has struck the agencies when only two or three women are on duty. For the county’s investigation, Duesler said authorities are looking at all details and possibilities.

“We’re looking at all areas of anything that will fit the part,” Duesler said. “I really can’t comment.”

None of the clerks have been harmed, and the suspect left the robberies on foot. It has sparked immediate changes in working operations.

Instead of one employee occupying the office from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fred Loya Insurance, clerk Monica Mendoza said two employees are working the last hour of business.

“It’s kind of scary,” Mendoza said. “It gets dark at six.”

At Bertelson’s office, Rivera was back at work Oct. 26 following the incident. The weekend, she said, gave her time to rest.

“By 5 p.m., if no one’s with us, we lock the door,”

Bertelson has since set up counseling for employees and ordered security cameras.

Beeson said she hopes to have cameras ordered an installed as soon as possible.