Search on for suspect in robbery

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell police are searching for an unidentified man who walked into the Best Bet Casino in the 700 block of East Idaho Street just before 2 p.m. Thursday and robbed an employee at knife point.

The man fled on foot with about $100, said Kalispell police Chief Roger Nasset.

Witnesses told police the man walked to an employee standing near an open till, displayed a knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade, and said, "Give me the money."

"I looked down and he had a knife pointed like this," said Cindy Dittmer, holding her fist at waist level. "At first it didn't register, 'He's trying to rob me.' Nobody even knew I was being robbed."

No one was injured.

Several of the seven or eight patrons in the casino when the robbery occurred followed the suspect outside, but were unable to determine which way he went, Nasset said.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot 10-inch white man in his late 20s, weighing from 200 to 250 pounds with dark, shaggy hair. He was wearing a camouflage-patterned sweatshirt and either tan, khaki, or camouflage-patterned pants and hat.

The suspect may be connected to a small, black sports car with a spoiler seen in the area.

Anyone with information about the robbery is encouraged to call the Kalispell Police Department at (406) 758-7780.