Driver of Robbed Armored Car Found Partying in CSL.
He was partying it up in CSL and staying at the Melia San Lucas.
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By Joe Hughes
January 31, 2003
An armored-car driver who disappeared last week with $3 million in cash and checks was arrested yesterday by Mexican police in Cabo San Lucas after a
private investigator hired by the guard's family tracked him there.
Philip Salcedo Jr. was taken into custody as he was getting into a cab outside the Melia San Lucas, a posh hotel in the Baja California resort where
he had been staying for the past several days, private investigator Bill Garcia said.
"When I told him I was here on behalf of his dad, who was happy he was safe and alive, he said, 'Can I shake your hand?' " Garcia said. "He seemed
relieved."
The 23-year-old driver for Loomis, Fargo & Co. vanished Jan. 23 after he dropped off a partner in downtown San Diego for a final collection that day.
The armored car was found nearby a short time later with one door open, the engine running and Salcedo nowhere to be found.
After the disappearance, police thought Salcedo could have been victim of a kidnapping and robbery.
Police were later convinced that Salcedo was involved in the theft, especially after his uniform shirt and empty money bags were found in a trash bin
in Rosarito.
Salcedo's family, convinced of his innocence, hired Garcia to go to Mexico, find him and bring him back safely to San Diego to surrender.
Salcedo is driven away by FBI agents upon his arrival at Lindbergh Field
When told his son was found and was all right, Salcedo's father, Philip Salcedo Sr., said: "Thank God he is safe. I still think he was a victim. We
have a tough road ahead of us."
FBI agents flew to Cabo San Lucas at midday yesterday and were planning to bring Salcedo back to San Diego last night, authorities said.
Detectives, meanwhile, are investigating two other people, believed to be Americans, who were with Salcedo in Cabo San Lucas.
It was not clear yesterday what authorities had recovered.
"They will find money, I know that," said Garcia, who adding that he still isn't sure if Salcedo was a victim.
The trail began in Rosarito last weekend, when Salcedo's family hired Garcia shortly after the FBI announced that money and deposit bags taken from
the armored car had been found there.
Garcia, who was involved in the searches for 7-year-old Danielle van Dam and 2-year-old Jahi Turner, spent the better part of the week looking for the
armored-car driver.
In Rosarito, he learned that people had seen Salcedo at a few of the local clubs, using $100 bills to pay for drinks. Then Salcedo vanished.
Garcia then went to watering holes in nearby Ensenada. At the Baja Wings Bar and Grill, witnesses told the private investigator that Salcedo had been
partying with two women, spending money freely.
Garcia said the talk on the street was that Salcedo flew to Cabo San Lucas. Salcedo's father also had told Garcia that his son had at one time
expressed an interest in the resort town.
It didn't take long for Garcia to find Salcedo there. He was seen Wednesday night at a club called the Giggling Marlin, quietly drinking a beer with
companions.
After Garcia confirmed that the man was in fact Salcedo, he called San Diego police, who asked that he continue to trail Salcedo while the FBI was
contacted. Garcia also alerted Mexican authorities, who helped with the surveillance.
Salcedo was arrested at a $200-a-night hotel yesterday afternoon.
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